Bookstores?

clayfilms · August 2015

I know like 82762537383283773 bars, coffeeshops, taco joints and artisinal mayo shops have opened up in the past 6 years...but has anyone managed to open a local bookstore?

bklyn50 · August 2015

Always the thinker, looking out to maintain literacy in our community

whynot_31 · August 2015

There is Hullabaloo
https://www.facebook.com/HullabalooBooks

And unnameable:
http://unnameablebooks.blogspot.com/

However, both appear to struggle to make ends meet.

True South on Nostrand is no more: https://www.facebook.com/pages/True-South-Bookstore/144771748926986

Books and periodicals seem to be fading as a medium.

Greenlight on Fulton is the only bookstore I perceive as strong: http://www.greenlightbookstore.com/

Dawndew · August 2015

I love Greenlight, but a bookstore like that needs cheap rent and a prosperous community. I would support a good used book store in CH.

mike dunlap · August 2015

There is Hullabaloo
https://www.facebook.com/HullabalooBooks

And unnameable:
http://unnameablebooks.blogspot.com/

However, both appear to struggle to make ends meet.

How do you know this?

booklaw · August 2015

Perhaps the operative word is "appear."

eastbloc · August 2015

Also, why aren't there more stores renting video cassettes?

booklaw · August 2015

And 8-track cartridges!

mike dunlap · August 2015

Perhaps the operative word is "appear."

OK then... why do they appear that way? I regularly see people coming and going from Hullabaloo.

homeowner · August 2015

I see people walking in and out. I rarely see people with bags or books that indicated they have purchased anything. And I can't really seem to wrap my head around what they are supposed to have in stock. Is it all secondhand books? Is it someone's highly curated selections? I'd ask, but both times I stepped into the place, the staff has been - let's say, less than welcoming.

mike dunlap · August 2015

I see people walking in and out. I rarely see people with bags or books that indicated they have purchased anything. And I can't really seem to wrap my head around what they are supposed to have in stock. Is it all secondhand books? Is it someone's highly curated selections? I'd ask, but both times I stepped into the place, the staff has been - let's say, less than welcoming.

Well, I've seen the opposite on both counts. As for selection, I've bought a wide range from them.

But our observations are obviously just anecdotal. To the original question, I doubt whynot has the slightest idea where these stores stand with "making ends meet."

prodigalson · August 2015

How well I remember the many book shops on Montague Street, Willoughby Street, Greenwich Village, and other parts of the Big City. For a handful of dollars, you could buy bag loads of books and then spend countless hours reading them. Bought and gave away about 2,000 of them over my many years and hope others enjoyed many good hours of reading pleasure.

Brooklyneya · August 2015

I worked at Borders not long before it closed. It is very, very difficult running a profitable bookstore, much more so now when a huge portion of readers have switched to e-books and a lot of information that we used to depend on books for we now just find online. Most magazine or newspaper readers have switched to online versions.

I personally almost only buy used books or exchange with friends. More wallet and tree friendly. I don't buy recipe or travel books anymore, now I depend on websites or forums which are free, more engaging, updated, and add no clutter to my apartment or my luggage.

The only way a bookstore has a chance of surviving currently is to offer other services - cafe, open mics, community group meetings, popular author talks, gift shop, etc.

Hullabaloo is also kind of out of the way
and doesn't have window displays, so it only attracts customers with a specific intent to go and buy. A better location and more attractive shop would attract customers who may just have been passing by.

mike dunlap · August 2015

Hullabaloo is also kind of out of the way

and doesn't have window displays, so it only attracts customers with a specific intent to go and buy. A better location and more attractive shop would attract customers who may just have been passing by.

Out of the way for whom? It's in the heart of the Crown Heights section of Franklin Avenue.

I don't think the point of the place is to make a ton of money; strikes me as more of a hobby. It's a tiny little book store whose overhead must be very low.

Brooklyneya · August 2015

I'm comparing to, say, if it were on Franklin itself on the first couple of blocks north of EP where some of the people walking to and from the subway would be inclined to pop in. I don't think that's currently the case.

Even if overhead is relatively low, rents, utilities, employee pay, and the cost of books and magazines (some of these must be trashed if past the date) are still hard to match. You'd have to sell a lot to just break even.

Just the fact that this discussion was created shows that it is not obvious or known to some in the neighborhood. I personally forget it exists more often than not even though I hang out a lot in the area.

mike dunlap · November 2015

DNA Info article on local bookstores in NYC that are doing quite well lately:

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151112/fort-greene/5-reasons-why-independent-nyc-bookstores-are-doing-better-than-you-thought

Along this line, as noted in a separate thread and despite its supposed "struggles to make ends meet," Hullabaloo has moved to a bigger, more prominent space and appears to be a lot busier in its new home.

whynot_31 · November 2015

I'm glad they are doing better. Sometimes you gotta invest money to make money.

chekhovian · November 2015

Does Hullabaloo even try to be a functioning business?

Not open on the Saturday after Thanksgiving at 3pm.

homeowner · November 2015

No

mike dunlap · November 2015

Does Hullabaloo even try to be a functioning business?

Not open on the Saturday after Thanksgiving at 3pm.

Apparently so. They just moved to a bigger space. Good for them for taking some holiday days off.

chekhovian · November 2015

I don't think it's good for them to be taking holiday days off if it comes at the expense of making the business viable. Look, I understand it's their investment, their money, etc., but prospective bookstore owners will not open a store while there's an existing bookstore in the neighborhood. Nor will a prospective owner ever open a bookstore if/when Hullabaloo closes. They'll be far more inclined to look at the results of Hullabaloo without further investigating why they were not viable.

crownheightster · November 2015

Hopefully the online record will help future prospective "real" bookstore owners to know what went wrong with Hullabaloo:

1) Hostile, unfriendly staff

2) Disorganized book displays and shelves

3) Weird, unpredictable hours

4) Featuring the Bill Cosby biography front and center in their window display. Amazing tone deafness.

whynot_31 · November 2015

Usually, the ongoing existence of a business is taken as proof that it is making money. However, this conclusion is not always correct.

For example, some businesses exist as a result of other forces:

-the generosity of their owners

-to feed the ego of their owners

-to give their owners something to do

-for personal reasons (For example, closing the business means admitting to their significant other that it was a bad idea.)

-etc.

Many art studios meet this definition. But I can also think of a few other businesses....

mike dunlap · November 2015

Thanks for the usual pedantry.

I didn't say anything about its profitability. It was asked if it was trying to be a functioning business; clearly it is.

I don't get the hate for the place here. It's a small little bookstore that is a cool addition to the neighborhood; I doubt the owners are expecting to get rich off the place. I'll take it over a 24/7 Barnes and Noble on Franklin Avenue any day.

whynot_31 · November 2015

I don't feel strongly about this little bookstore, in either direction.

I hope it meets the owner's goals.

crownheightster · November 2015

I can't help feeling disrespected when I compare the offerings and attitude of Hullabaloo to real bookstores, places like Court Street Books or Greenlight.