Indigo Opens First U.S. Store, in Short Hills, N.J.
Indigo Books & Music has opened its first U.S. store, at the Mall at Short Hills, Short Hills, N.J., a 30,000-square-foot space that features the Canadian bookselling chain's cultural department store concept. Besides books, magazines, cards and stationery, the store offers toys, electronics, home décor, jewelry, kitchen accessories, handbags and a range of other lifestyle products.
Noting that the store's café is still under construction, Chain Store Age offered this assessment of the new Indigo: "The Short Hills outpost is warm, spacious and inviting, with an open floor plan designed as a series of zones, each with its own focal point. Books are the main attraction, but they are often complemented with products that tell a story around a book category. The Wellness Shop, for example, displays books on meditation, mindfulness, self-help and other related topics along with scent diffusers and candles.
"Other zones include Home, Art and Photography, Paper Shop, Indigo Baby and Indigo Kids, which is set off from the rest of the space with a color-splashed entry portal, colorful flooring and whimsical wall graphics. A large gift selection, Every Gift Tells a Story, is displayed on a wall opposite the checkout counter."
Last November, Indigo made public its plans to open in the U.S., its first foray outside Canada. At the time, founder, chairman and CEO Heather Reisman said Indigo planned to open three to five stores in the U.S. over two years, then assess "market response" and possibly open more stores. She added that the company has been approached by many U.S. real estate developers who like Indigo stores. "So we're cautious, but we're optimistic," she said. "We want them to do as well as they do here." (The Short Hills Indigo site features Heather's Picks, books chosen by Reisman, described as "Indigo's chief booklover.")
In Canada, Indigo has about 85 superstores under the names Indigo and Chapters, and 120 smaller-format stores under the names Coles, Indigospirit, SmithBooks and the Book Company. It has been in the process of renovating 16 larger-format stores into cultural department stores, which the company says has drawn a "tremendous response" from consumers.
Shakespeare & Co., which has operated stores in New York City since 1981, has opened its first store outside the area, in Philadelphia, Pa., BillyPenn reported. The store is in the historic Rittenhouse Square shopping area.
Bookselling Without Borders
Fans of comics, film, television and books (and all of the places where they overlap) gathered at the Javits Center in New York City this past weekend at ReedPOP's New York Comic Con. NYCC, the East Coast's largest pop-culture convention, likely exceeded last year's record-breaking attendance of more than 200,000: this year's four-day event was so large that attendees waded through crowds and waited in long lines not only in the Javits Center but also at any of the number of satellite NYCC locations, such as the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Hammerstein Ballroom and the Hudson Mercantile. Here are a few highlights:
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and the 
The Ghost Photographer: A Hollywood Executive's True Story of Discovering the Real World of Make-Believe
Kathleen works in a small store at the edge of a state park in Pennsylvania's Blue Ridge Mountains, frying burgers and onion rings for hikers and hunters, keeping to herself. She was widowed at 22 by a car wreck that left her badly injured, but she insists that she does not have a limp. She wants only to be left alone. But then a stranger appears out of the harsh snow of mountain winter, wearing dress shoes and a disarming expression; his native country is Uzbekistan, and he gives no good reason why he should be lurking out-of-season at the hostel next to Kathleen's store. Despite her instincts, she indulges him with conversation and, eventually, a cautious friendship.