The State of Independent Bookstores

With fundraising gambits, home delivery options, curbside pickup, virtual book club events and new online ordering systems,  independent bookstores across the nation are doing their best to adapt to an uncertain retail landscape in the wake of the pandemic.

It's no different for the Richmond region's indie bookstores, once healthy and thriving.

My Richmond Magazine feature article on the state of the bookstore is now available on the mag's web site. I talked with the owners of Chop Suey Books, Fountain Books, Book People, Velocity Comics, the Little Bookshop, and BBGB Books, and found out not only how the stores are surviving, but what  customers have been reading during the COVID-19 crisis.

To see "Turning the Page," put your reading glasses on and go here.

Exploring the subject further: To hear my Open Source RVA with Kelly Justice, the owner of Fountain Books and president of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance,, go to the Source podcast page.

(Photo of the Little Bookshop by the mighty Jay Paul!)