Small local bookstores such as The Little Bookshop have weathered the impact of pandemic restrictions. (Photo courtesy The Little Bookshop)
Now open at limited capacity, local bookstores are continuing some practices they adopted during quarantine, such as online orders and virtual events, and doing their best to stay in business.
Bookshop.org, a platform that allows users to purchase from local bookstores online, helped The Little Bookshop survive during the pandemic, and it’s something the store will continue to use, owner Mary Patterson says.
“We had quite a few people that would order on bookshop.org, and I’m really grateful for that,” she says. “I know it’s not the right fit for every bookstore, but it has been really beneficial to us, and the timing was just really great.”
Chop Suey plans to take advantage of its increased online presence, owner Ward Tefft says. “We’ve done a lot more orders over Instagram, so we’re definitely going to continue doing that and taking requests and fulfilling orders where people can pay through Venmo or over the phone,” he says.
Chop Suey opened with limited capacity in June, but the store closed for renovations on its first floor in July. Construction is expected to be completed in August.
“If we had known how long the pandemic would have lasted, it would have been a great time to do the renovations, but, you know, back in May 2020, we didn’t know exactly how long it would take, so we just kind of waited and waited,” Tefft says.
With the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, Patterson is excited for The Little Bookshop to eventually get back to hosting in-person events, but she doesn’t see that happening soon, she says.
“That’s one of the things I’m working on,” she says. “Before the pandemic, I did a lot of children’s events –– story time, music time, children’s author events –– so I do see us going back to that, but very slowly, because children under 12 aren’t vaccinated yet.”
In the meantime, The Little Bookshop has been staging virtual events in conjunction with the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance.
“It’s been so helpful for stores, especially small stores like mine, that they are providing that wonderful service,” she says. “It has been really beneficial to me, because when you kind of gear your store down to just one person doing most things –– run the store, clean the store, order the books –– it’s a lot, so I appreciate that my association has done that for us; it’s been a huge gift.”
While Tefft has no interest in hosting virtual events post-pandemic, Patterson thinks they have staying power, she says.
“From different publishers and reps that I’ve talked to, virtual events might be here to stay,” she says. “I can see them becoming a larger presence than they were before the pandemic.”
While bookstores are open, the financial impact from the pandemic lingers.
“We’re a small business, we’re always struggling anyhow, always trying to keep up, but hopefully things will get back to a more predictable way of running our small business,” Tefft says.
Kelly Justice, owner of Fountain Bookstore, says revenue at the shop, which has continued to do store pickup, offer shipping, and host virtual book clubs and events throughout the pandemic, is down 20% to 25%. Justice also applied for assistance from Binc, the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, which helps bookstore owners with emergency financial needs, she says.
“People do a lot of, ‘Yay, indie bookstores,’ but when it comes down to it, the only way to really keep us open is with purchases, and with sharing your experiences with others if you’ve had a good time,” she says. “If you can’t afford to buy books right now, you can still tell people about us, to come to our free events and things. You know, there’s no guarantees. Fountain Books has been in business since 1978, but that doesn’t mean it can’t stop tomorrow.”