Louisiana to start collecting online sales tax; Jeff Kinney's Massachusetts store wins design awards; and NPR's Morning Edition to be broadcast from an Illinois bookstore.
E-Fairness Enacted in Louisiana: Beginning April 1, Louisiana will become the 29th state to begin collecting online sales tax from Amazon and other remote e-tailers. “It’s going to raise significant money and it’s a big step forward that will be good for local businesses here,” Tom Lowenburg, co-owner of Octavia Booksellers in New Orleans, testified last month in front of Louisiana’s House Ways & Means Committee.
An Unlikely Story Wins Three Design Awards: Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney picked up three design awards from the Association for Retail Environments earlier this week for his new bookstore in Plainville, Mass.: specialty store design, sustainability, and flooring. Bergmeyer Associates, Inc. developed the three-story LEED certified building and The Bookstore Training Group of Paz & Associates consulted.
NPR’s Morning Edition to Broadcast From I Know You Like a Book: The radio program plans to broadcast its show from the Peoria, Ill., bookstore on April 8. Owner Mary Beth Nebel told BTW that her store was likely selected because it hosted a successful event for Morning Edition co-host David Greene’s Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey Into the Heart of Russia.
StoryCorps Encourages Indie Booksellers to Talk about Their Work: To promote Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work (Penguin Press, April), Dave Isay is encouraging booksellers to talk about their work, starting with his local store, Greenlight in Brooklyn. Isay will play some of the stories during his book tour next month.
