Nebraska

Nebraska, halfway between the East and West Coasts, has just 1,747,000 residents. Three-fourths of the population lives within a 50-mile radius of Omaha or Lincoln, which are 60 miles apart in the southeastern corner of the state. The Great Plains of western Nebraska is sprinkled with huge ranches, farms and small towns.

For residents of the sparsely populated area, local comes at a different scale. “The nearest Borders is 200 miles away, but that doesn't matter,” said Duane Gudgel, owner of the Plains Trading Co., a 15-year-old bookstore in Valentine, a community of 2, 800 people on the northern edge of the Sandhills, dunes that stretch for 265 miles across the state.

“People are used to driving great distances to shop, and plan their purchases. Even books,” he explained, noting that half of his orders come from schools on the nearby Rosebud Indian Reservation, and a significant percentage comes from tourists interested in western and Native American regional titles.

Although, besides the Plains Trading Co., there are three ABA bookstores, two CBA stores and one Waldenbooks in western Nebraska, the state's bookstores, like its population, are concentrated in southeastern Nebraska, particularly in booming Omaha, with its median household income of $51,752, well above the state's $41,406 median household income.

Of the 13 Nebraska chain bookstores, seven are in Omaha and three in Lincoln. Three Waldenbooks are located elsewhere in the state. The 10 chain stores in Omaha and Lincoln compete with eight of 11 Nebraska Target stores and 14 of the 29 Wal-Mart stores, as well as eight of the 13 ABA stores and 10 of the 17 CBA stores, including six independent bookstores in Omaha and five in Lincoln. Each city boasts three CBA stores, and while Omaha has three ABA stores as well, Lincoln has two, as 28-year-old Lee's Booksellers downsized by closing its second, 2,000-sq.-ft. location in that university town last year, to focus on maintaining its 6,000-sq.-ft. flagship store.

Omaha's bookselling climate reflects the state of Nebraska's prosperous capital city, with its vibrant mix of longtime residents (including billionaire Warren Buffett) and cosmopolitan newcomers from all over the world. While 53 of Nebraska's 93 counties report steadily declining populations, the Omaha metro area is experiencing phenomenal growth, with a 12% increase in population since 1990.

As explained recently in the New York Times Magazine by author and native son Kurt Andersen, the collision of midwestern values and bohemian sensibilities that has occurred in recent years has made Omaha a mecca for artists, musicians and writers—as well as bookstores.

Certainly, the Bookworm, Omaha's leading independent bookstore, continues to serve its loyal customers, as it has done for the past 21 years, in a location that has housed a bookstore continuously for the past 44 years.

“It's an established neighborhood, with an aging customer base,” Beth Black, the Bookworm's owner said. “But we've had a lot of customers come in and say, 'I'm new in town, I'm so glad to see an independent bookstore here.' ”

Two independent bookstores have opened in Omaha in recent years, serving a diverse population. Soul Desires, which specializes in alternative spirituality titles, opened its doors eight years ago, while Reading Grounds, which offers gay and lesbian titles, was launched two years ago by a recent arrival from Philadelphia and her partner. Confluence, a bookstore/bistro with a wine bar opening this fall in Bellevue, an Omaha suburb, will include meeting rooms to accommodate personnel from nearby Offutt Air Force Base.

Although, with 42 bookstores, Nebraska boasts less than half of the bookstores operating in the state in the early 1990s, when the number peaked at 98, the can-do, pioneering spirit that brought 19th-century homesteaders to Nebraska still prevails among the close-knit community of booksellers in this state.

“Nebraska is a stable kind of place,” said Soul Desires' Susan Davies. “We're on the plains. We don't dart into business, and we don't dart out of business. That's the way people operate here.”