Buy from your independent bookstores before it’s too late | Commentary - Chicago Tribune

On the side of Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, California, is a mural of a red and black typewriter with a painted piece of paper bearing the words, “I will forever be in love with you. And that’s not fiction.” by Allison K Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association and the former CEO of Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena and Book Soup in West Hollywood.

Independent Logan Square bookstore City Lit Books is shown in 2017. Owner Teresa Kirschbraun said the shop would close for good on Dec. 1. 

Photo: Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune

When I commissioned this piece in November 2019 as the store’s CEO, it didn’t seem far-fetched to think that Vroman’s, a Pasadena literary institution since 1894, would be around, if not forever, then for a very long time.

Now the store has said it may not make it through the year...

Since March many independent bookstores have found themselves having to depend on e-commerce and forced to pivot to curbside pickup. They’ve had to replace live events with virtual ones and enforce social distancing, if their stores are open at all. A July American Booksellers' Association survey of 400 member stores found that many have seen sharp sales declines over last year, and results suggest that some 20% of those surveyed may not survive until January 2021.

This statistic mirrors the Small Business Majority’s survey results from August. The group found that, without additional funding, 26% of small-business owners across the United States may not survive past the next three months, and nearly 44% say they may be unable to survive another six months.

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Source: Chicago Tribune