Bookstores dying? Pure fiction in Haight
Conventional wisdom says independent bookstores are in desperate trouble. You can probably list the problems you imagine they face.
By selling tons of books online, Amazon has taken over the market. Or national bigbox bookstores dominate the industry, crowding out the smaller independents. Or ereaders make getting and reading books so easy that print is nearly dead.
Each of those theories makes perfect sense. But none is true.
Out on Haight Street, the Booksmith is a model of the new bookstore. Bright and inviting, it’s not so much a retail outlet as a neighborhood hangout. Co-owner Christin Evans supervises a staff that promotes appearances by authors, discussion groups and demonstrations.
“I think the bookstore has always been a place where people come together,” Evans said.
The Booksmith, which just celebrated its 40th anniversary, has made civic gathering a priority. When she and husband Praveen Madan took over the store in 2007, it was hosting 70 events a year. This year, the number is 200.
But they still get the sympathetic questions from customers who ask, “Are you going to be able to stay in business?”
“One of the favorite narratives is that the industry is collapsing,” said Camden Avery, lead buyer for the Booksmith.
Not that there weren’t some problems. Between 2000 and 2007, more than 1,000 independent bookstores closed.
But now, the American Booksellers Association says independent membership in the ABA has increased 30 percent since 2009. There are now 2,311 indie booksellers, and overall sales were up 10 percent over last year.
“We are really coming back stronger and fiercer than ever,” said Calvin Crosby, executive director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.
And, although Amazon sells loads of books, bookstores are finding that readers appreciate the human interaction of going to a store and talking with knowledgeable staff rather than dealing with an impersonal Internet account.
Many are also starting to feel the same way about reading books on an electronic device. Between January 2015 and January 2016, e-book sales were down nearly 25 percent, according to the Association of American Publishers.
The numbers reflect the desire to get away from the video screen.
“So many of us spend the whole day looking a computer screen,” said Amy Stephenson, who coordinates events for the Booksmith.
As for those big-box bookstores, good luck trying to find one in San Francisco. Barnes and Noble closed its last local store in 2010, and Borders had a well-publicized meltdown and went out of business.
In fact, Crosby said the Borders bankruptcy may have started the whole end-of-the-world-for-bookstores idea.
“Borders closed because of bad business choices,” he said. “Not because they sold books. But that story (bookstores in crisis) never went away.”
Booksmith is not only thriving, it’s expanding. On Nov. 1, the Booksmith team will take over the former site of the Red Vic Movie House. The new space will be called the Bindery, and it will sell “quirky gifts” and books but will also host events. The advantage is that it is a larger space with some amenities the bookstore doesn’t have.
“It will provide a community and events space for the neighborhood,” Evans said. “There’s even a built-in movie projector.”
And, by the way, the Booksmith’s revival coincides with an updated look for the Haight. If you haven’t been out there lately, you’ll be struck by updated and repainted storefronts and upscale retail.
“The neighborhood got a face-lift,” Evans said, “but the guts are still the same. We have a lot of 20- to 30-year residents.”
Of course it isn’t enough to schedule a reading and expect crowds of customers to appear. Thinking outside the box is critical. Stephenson came up with Shipwreck, which is billed as “San Francisco’s premier literary erotic fanfiction event.”
Participants rewrite literary characters — a recent one was Peter Pan — into humorous erotic parodies. The funniest are read aloud to appreciative audiences. It’s been such a hit that Chronicle columnist Beth Spotswood covered an event.
“The first time we did it, the place was packed,” Stephenson said. “The second time, it was double-packed. And the third time, they were hanging from the rafters.”
It’s the kind of unconventional strategy that has fueled the independent bookstore revolution. Maybe we should call it books without Borders.