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Top 700 Independent Bookstores

Top 700 Independent Bookstores Data Files — This list started out as 500, then 600, then 700, and now close to 750 top general interest bookstores. It includes names of the book buyers and event coordinators, address, phone, fax, email, website, and other information about each bookstore. You will be able to download six different formats (your choice of one or all) as well as an information sheet to let you know what is contained in the various data files. Data file download, $40.00. If you find any errors in any listing, we guarantee to hunt down the error and correct it for you immediately.

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Top 20 U.S. Independent Bookstores

Below is a list of some of the top independent bookstores in the country. Some may argue that other bookstores should be in this list—and we're sure they would have valid arguments—but we had to stop somewhere.

Note: This list below is not as complete as the Top 700 Independent Bookstore database which you can order from us. The Top 700 database includes email addresses and buyer's names.

Anderson's Bookshop, 123 W Jefferson Avenue, Naperville IL 60540; 630-355-2665; Fax: 630-355-3470. Second store in Downer's Grove, Illinois.

Barbara's Bookstore, 1218 S Halstead Street, Chicago IL 60607; 312-666-3161; Fax: 312-666-3255. Plus five Barbara's Bestsellers in Chicago and at airports in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York.

Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley CA 94709; 510-486-0698; Fax: 510-486-0915.

Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Boulevard, Corte Madera CA 94925; 415-927-0960; Fax: 415-924-3838; 800-999-7909; A great general bookstore with a national reputation for travel books.

Books & Books, 296 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables FL 33134-5009; 305-442-4408; Fax: 305-444-9751. Second location: 933 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach FL 33139.

Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz CA 95060; 831-423-0900; Fax: 831-423-8371. This is a “cool independent in a university town ... with a strong, loyal customer base.”

Boulder Bookstore, 1107 Pearl Street, Boulder CO 80302-5103; 303-447-2074; Fax: 303-447-3946. Lots of author events.

City Lights Booksellers, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco CA 94133-4586; 415-362-8193; Fax: 415-362-4921. A classic independent store that carries lots of poetry, literary fiction, and alternative topics.

Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 Tenth Avenue, Seattle WA 98122; 206-624-6600; Fax: 206-343-9558.

Haslam's Book Store, 2025 Central Avenue, Saint Petersburg FL 33713-8896; 813-822-8616; Fax: 813-822-7416. Florida's largest new and used bookstore.

Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Main Offices, 1727 Eastern Avenue, Cincinnati OH 45202-1710; 513-396-8960; Fax: 513-396-8975. They have stores in Cincinnati, Lexington, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Charlotte. They also own the Davis-Kidd stores in Tennessee (Memphis, Knoxville, and Nashville).

Northshire Bookstore, 4869 Main Street, Manchester Center VT 05255; 802-362-3565; Fax: 802-362-1233.

Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008-2024; 202-364-1919; Fax: 202-966-7532.

Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland OR 97209-3114; 503-228-4651; Fax: 503-228-4631. They have several specialty stores as well as several general stores in the Portland area. Powell's is one of the world's largest bookstores (possibly the largest carrying both new and used titles). Note that they also offer an associates program for online web sites to sell books (pays 10% of all sales). If you want to support independent bookstores, you might want to link with Powell's.

Prairie Lights Books, 15 S Dubuque Street, Iowa City IA 52240-3950; 319-337-2681; Fax: 319-337-2056. Prairie Lights has a reading series in which they bring in authors that are also often featured on public radio in Iowa.

The Regulator Bookshop, 720 Ninth Street, Durham NC 27705-4803; 919-286-2700; Fax: 919-286-6063.

Square Books, 160 Courthouse Square, Oxford MS 38655-3914; 662-236-2262; 662-2234-9630.

Stanford Bookstore, 519 Lasuen Mall, Stanford CA 94305-3079; 650-329-1217; Fax: 650-322-1936.

The Tattered Cover Bookstore, Cherry Creek Store, 2955 East First Avenue, Denver CO 80206-5609; 303-322-7727; Fax: 303-399-2279. Second Store (and buying offices): 1628 16th Street, Denver CO 80202-1308; 303-322-1965; Fax: 303-629-1704. This has to be the top independent bookstore in the country.

Vroman's, 695 E Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena CA 91109-0217; 626-449-5320; Fax: 626-792-7308. Opened in 1894, it bills itself as “Southern California's oldest and largest independent bookstore.” PW called it “one of the best independents in the country.”

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For a list of bookstore lists available on the internet, click here.

For information on the Catalog Sales Directory, click here.

For details on complying with the Can-Spam Act for
sending emails to bookstores, click here.

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Top 700 Independent Bookstores Data Files — This list started out as 500, then 600, then 700, and now close to 750 top general bookstores. It includes names of the book buyers and event coordinators, address, phone, fax, email, website, and other information about each bookstore. You will be able to download six different formats (your choice of one or all) as well as an information sheet to let you know what is contained in the various data files (Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, comma-delimited ASCII, tab-delimited ASCII, dBase, and rich text format). Data file download, $40.00.

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