Gulf Coast booksellers are bracing themselves for the effects and aftereffects of the massive BP oil spill, Bookselling This Week reported.
Tom Lowenberg, owner of Octavia Books, New Orleans, La., called the spill "not just a local disaster.... This is the most fertile reproductive area for the entire Gulf of Mexico. It's a stab to the womb. And when they cap the oil, it's still not over. We're talking about a long-term national disaster."
Lowenberg expects an impact on Octavia: "We don't know the full scope of the spill. It's un-circumscribed, but we know that the impact is going to be profound. Not anything as direct as Katrina, but the overall long-term consequences of this may be greater."
At Page & Palette, Fairhope, Ala., owner Karin Wilson said residents are "definitely nervous.... We were down 11% in May, and that's just from lost bookings in the area. Summer is a big tourist time for us." She is concerned that media coverage of the spill may have an effect on Gulf coast businesses. "Everyone's still open for business. It would be great if people would come down and support us, especially given what we're going through."
Kay Gough of Bay Books, Bay St. Louis, Miss., said that despite the fact that the area's beaches are still clean and her bookstore is doing well, "tourism is really important here, and people are saying their businesses are down 50 to 60%."
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The shop local movement in Durango, Colo., was the focus of a cover story in this week's edition of the Durango Telegraph, which reported that "Mom and pop are getting a big hand-up along Main Avenue. Local First--a homespun effort to support and encourage Durango-grown businesses--recently passed several milestones. Buoyed up by three years of success, the organization is steering toward a prosperous future for Durango’s locally owned, independent establishments."
Peter Schertz of Maria's Bookshop, who was part of group that founded La Plata Organizations for Cooperatively Advocating Local (LOCAL) three years ago, said, "There's a profound economic benefit to shopping local, and dollars spent with locally-owned businesses recirculate rather than leak out of the community. But it's also more than an economic issue. It's important that businesses reflect their community, and locally owned businesses are better able to do that."
Now called Local First, the group hired LeeAnn Vallejos as its first executive director in May, and Schertz observed, "We hear more and more of our local customers tell us that they are making a concerted effort to shop locally on an exclusive basis. We also consistently hear from tourists that they are so appreciative that Durango still has things like locally owned book shops and record stores. I think people are getting the message more and more all the time."
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Bookselling This Week profiled Giovanni's Room, Philadelphia, Pa., the oldest gay and lesbian bookstore in the country, which had asked customers for help last year "with a large-scale renovation. Not only did the Philadelphia bookstore get overwhelming support from both customers and authors, but their support has also been ongoing."
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The Hub City Book Shop, Spartanburg, S.C., "is primed to become one of the highest-profile businesses in the ongoing revitalization of downtown," the Spartanburg Spark noted in its podcast interview with Hub City Writers Project executive director Betsy Teter.
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In Menlo Park, Calif., fire sprinklers proved to be as big a concern as the blaze that "affected several businesses on the 800 block of Santa Cruz Avenue, including Posh Bagel, Cafe Silan and The Book Rack," the San Jose Mercury News reported. Fire crews had difficulty shutting down the sprinkler system after extinguishing the fire, and Chief Harold Schapelhouman added that "the bookstore's owners said the fire will likely put them out of business."
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A novel sort of book proposal occurred at Primrose Hill Books in London, when manager Jessica Graham colluded in a bit of romantic merchandising with Oliver Harkness, who proposed to Priyanka Chaudhuri in the shop's window display, the Camden New Journal reported.
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Is Glenn Beck the new Oprah of the book world? Mediaite explored the possibility, noting that "Beck's ability to make a book successful--almost any book, it would seem--after even a small recommendation, has proven out this year."
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Lit-crit, canine edition. In Slate, Rosecrans Baldwin posited the "Somewhere a Dog Barked" theory: "Pick up just about any novel and you'll find a throwaway reference to a dog, barking in the distance."
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For Father's Day, USA Today recommended "five new titles of interest to dads and their offspring."
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Book trailer of the day: Finny
by Justin Kramon (Random House Trade Paperbacks).
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Melanie
Thompson Welch has joined Trafalgar Square Publishing, a distribution
arm of IPG, as marketing manager. She was formerly an associate
marketing manager at Sourcebooks.