Independent book stores are growing as people look for community in local spaces | Fortune

Independent bookstores have been widely portrayed as disappearing, but the decline of physical bookstores ended years ago. Recent American Booksellers Association figures show independent stores expanding at a pace not seen this century. ABA membership grew by more than 500 over the past year to 3,417 members across 3,783 locations, nearly triple the level from a decade ago and the highest since the late 1990s. Growth includes a range of store formats such as general interest shops, mobile bookshops, and pop-up stores. Many new members reflect strong demand for romance, fantasy, and hybrid romantasy offerings. Independent bookselling attracts people seeking both business opportunities and alignment with personal values.

"“It's all so funny,” she says. “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.”"

"The decline of physical bookstores remains so embedded in popular culture that the man dating Anne Hathaway's character in “The Devil Wears Prada 2” laments that bookstores are “getting downsized and consolidated.” But the decline actually ended years ago, and the latest numbers from the American Booksellers Association show independent stores expanding at a pace not seen this century."

"Membership in the ABA grew by more than 500 over the past year, to a total of 3,417 (at 3,783 locations), nearly triple what it was a decade ago and the highest level since the late 1990s. The surge included stores of various kinds - general interest shops like Hey Books! in San Diego; mobile stores like the Wandering Quills Bookshop in Westerville, Ohio; pop-up stores like Banyan Books in St. Petersburg, Florida."

"Independent bookselling, rarely a way to get rich, is a meeting ground for idealists - for young people with a sense of mission, retirees embarking on a new life or middle-aged people no longer satisfied with their careers. “I think people want to realign their lives with their values,” Hill says."

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