OKC indie pop-up to get permanent home; crowdfunding campaign launched to open Bronx bookstore; UConn Hartford to get a new B&N; Japan's Tsutaya chain expands to Taiwan; and more.
Oklahoma City's Commonplace Books to Open In Midtown: The independent bookstore has been open in a "brick-and-mortar" pop-up location since Small Business Saturday last November, will move to a permanent location in the downtown core in mid-to-late March.
Indiegogo Campaign Aims to Fund New Bronx Bookstore: The crowdsourcing campaign launched by Noëlle Santos aims to raise $100,000 to help bring her bookstore concept, the Lit Bar, to life in the Bronx, the New York borough with more than 1.4 million people -- and no independent bookstores. This past holiday season, Santos ran a successful holiday pop-up shop at the Bronx Museum of the Arts.
The Booksellers in Austin Landing Closes: Last Friday the Dayton, Oh. independent bookstore closed. The store, which was owned by Neil van Uum, is the second location of The Booksellers to close in recent weeks, following the announced closure of The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis.
Texas Aggieland Bookstore Pulls Books from Shelves: The bookstore in College Station, Tex., home of Texas A&M University, has decided to stop selling books. Wiley Tarver, manager, said "there were more than a dozen textbook stores in town when he started in the business 18 years ago. Now there are two." These include a Barnes & Noble on the campus of the university and another store called Textbook Solutions.
University of Connecticut's Hartford Campus Gets New B&N: The new 11,000 sq.-ft. bookstore will reside in the ground floor of an apartment complex across the street from the new $140 million university complex being built.
Greenville, S.C. Used Bookstore Moving: Joe's Place, a three-year-old used bookstore in Greenville, S.C. is moving to the Pettigru Historic District, an "undiscovered gem" of the city. The motivation for the move: the owner wanted to acquire property as an asset for the business.
Prairie Lights Bookseller Paul Ingram Retires: Now 70, the man who is known as "Iowa's literary taste maker" has retired from Iowa City's Prarie Lights Bookstore, where he worked for the past 27 years.
Japan's Tsutaya Bookstore Chain Opens Taipei Branch: A branch of the Japanese bookstore chain Tsutaya has opened in Taipei, right across the street from the the flagship Estlite bookstore — Taiwan's top bookseller. .Tsutsaya currently runs 1,424 shops in Japan and is owned by Culture Convenience Club (CCC). In Taiwan the store offers titles in Chinese, Japanese and English, and will "not only sell books, but provide lifestyle offerings based on big data-driven customer research."
