Dedham, Mass., bookseller vows to fight Amazon; ABA adds diversity programming to spring agenda; LA's Fashion Bookstore to close; and more.
Blue Bunny Bookstore Owner to Fight Off New Amazon Store: When the first Amazon Books location on the East coast opened this week in Dedham, Mass., the media took notice—and so did Peter Reynolds, owner of the town's other bookstore, The Blue Bunny, which has been opened for over a decade.
ABA CEO Teicher Announces Diversity Education at Spring Forums: Ten Spring Forums will take place through April 20, with the first next week in Atlanta. Teicher notes that beyond the traditional education sessions, the forums will include a new session born out of discussions as WI12: “Bookstores — An Inclusive Place for Dialogue and Discovery" with the goal of helping "booksellers collaboratively learn from their colleagues about how bookstores can fulfill their unique roles in communities."
Fashion Bookstore in LA to Close: Citing high rents,The Fashion Bookstore in Los Angeles announced it is closing March 31 after 25 years in business. The owners said there are no plans to move the store online.
Mountain View's Books Inc. Moving Down the Street: After 15 years in the same location, Mountain View, Cal. bookstore Books Inc. is moving 50 feet down the street into the space previously occupied by BookBuyers, a used bookstore.
Barnes & Noble Awards Discover New Writers Awards: The bookseller announced Abby Geni’s The Lightkeepers (Counterpoint Press), and Matthew Desmond’s Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Crown Publishing Group) as the winners of this year's Discover New Writers Awards. The author of each book was awarded a cash prize of $30,000 and a full year of marketing and merchandising support from the bookseller.
Study Shows Gen Z Favors Real World Shopping: A study by IBM and the National Retail Federation (NRF) has found that Generation Z, members of which were born in the mid-1990s and later, prefers shopping in bricks-and-mortar stores, rather than online. “They appreciate the hands-on experience of shopping in a store. With technology constantly evolving but some shopping habits remaining the same, retailers need to be agile enough to serve both needs," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
Page 1 Books in Albuquerque Helps Local Schools: When a local schoolteacher couldn't get enough copies of Animal Farm for her class, the New Mexican bookseller stepped in to let customers donate or buy a copy for the class. Owner Morado Stout says the store has been running a similar program for schools and teachers for over 30 years.
