Independent bookstores see post-pandemic bump

When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit, supply chains around the world were instantly disrupted. The drop in supply correlated with price increases, resulting in higher-than-average inflation.

Even now, four years after the start of the pandemic, consumers are still reeling from high grocery, housing and insurance costs. Many are turning to credit cards to pay for expenses and slashing discretionary spending on items like vacations, restaurants and more.

Despite people tightening their purse strings, one place seems to have thrived during Covid: the independent bookstore.

Rising numbers

Research shows there has been a sharp increase in the number of independent booksellers, even though monoliths like Amazon still reign supreme. In my own city of Indianapolis, I can think of five independent bookstores that weren't here before Covid.

“The pandemic was incredibly tough for many small businesses but also helped kickstart lots of folks reading more again, so many of us ‘rediscovered’ reading,” said Jake Budler, who owns Tomorrow Bookstore in Indianapolis with his wife, Julia Breakey. 

My hometown isn’t an outlier. In fact, the number of independent bookstores has grown by 200 from 2022 to 2023 and the number has more than doubled between 2016 and 2023.  Also, the American Booksellers Association said that online sales for independent bookstores have seen a 500% increase since 2020. 

Bookstores are often seen as a place for people to support certain policies. As some schools have pushed to ban certain books, local bookstores have stepped up to act as a safe refuge for those books. There’s even a bookstore in my city that focuses on banned books.

“I think in order to successfully run a brick and mortar space anymore, you really have to distill down to what your identity is,” said Irvington Vinyl & Books owner Elysia Smith. “You can't be a bookstore for everyone because inventory costs so much.”

Smith's bookstore, which also includes a large vinyl record selection, focuses on used books,as well as the LGBTQ+ community. Across the country, many other bookstores focus on niche communities, like Yu and Me Books in Manhattan that focuses on books about and for immigrants and people of color.

Some of the surge in popularity for local bookstores may be due to social media trends, like #bookTok, a hashtag on TikTok where people shout out their favorite books. Also, when series like ACOTAR become popular on social media, it can spark a bigger reading trend. Romance novels have also gotten a huge push recently, and many local bookstores focus on that genre to attract avid consumers.

Online sales thriving

The good news is that nowadays you don’t have to shop in person to support your local bookstore. Sites like Bookshop.org let you shop online and get books delivered to your door, with a portion of the proceeds supporting local bookstores. Plus, if you designate a specific store they’ll receive the profits. The revenue is not as much as if you shopped from them directly, but it’s more than they would get if you went through Amazon instead.

“Their margin is worse, but their reach is greater,” Smith said. “So it's one of those things where you just have to figure out how to weigh the value of your time appropriately and use it within your means.”

Many local bookstores have also become community spaces, offering a free place to read, work, hang out or do homework. Some have their own free book clubs. In a time in which the decline of the third space is being rapidly observed, bookstores can fill that void.

“There is a broader trend of folks shopping local, independent and small – we are realizing how important that is for our communities and quality of life,” Budler said. “Bookstores are a high point within that trend – they are spaces that are literary, educational and fun – and also spaces for community.”