GoKawiilKey Takeaways Independent bookstores are growing fast, not fading, according to new data.
American Booksellers Association memberships rose by more than 500 locations in the past year to reach 3,417 stores.
That total is nearly triple what it was a decade ago and marks the organization’s highest membership level since the late 1990s.
Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, often hears words of sympathy from strangers when she tells them about her job. They assume that the independent bookstore industry is dying out.
“It’s all so funny,” she told ABC News earlier this week. “When I tell them I run the trade association for independent stores, they’ll say, ‘It’s just so sad that they’re disappearing.’ I don’t think they’re really keeping track, or they just know about a store that closed or heard about one closing.”
Hill sees something different. The latest numbers from the American Booksellers Association show that independent bookstores are expanding at an unprecedented rate.
The association added more than 500 members in the past year, bringing its ranks to 3,417 bookstores operating across over 3,000 locations. That total is nearly triple what it was a decade ago and marks the organization’s highest membership since the late 1990s.
The growth spans a wide range of business models, from traditional neighborhood shops like Hey Books! in San Diego to unconventional formats, such as the Wandering Quills Bookshop, a mobile retailer in Westerville, Ohio, and Banyan Books, a pop-up bookstore in St. Petersburg, Florida.
A significant share of new independent bookstores reflects the wave of surging demand for romance and fantasy novels. That momentum is visible in niche retailers like the Spicy Librarian in Denver, Colorado, and the Flutter Romance Bookstore in Austin, Texas. Both bookstores are built around readers’ appetite for these fast-growing categories.
Independent bookstores now face competition from a revived Barnes & Noble. Once blamed for driving many independent sellers out of business, the chain later faltered against Amazon and closed locations. Since its 2019 acquisition by hedge fund Elliott Management Corp., it has been expanding again, opening over 100 stores over the past two years.
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