Top 700 Independent Bookstores
Top 700 Independent Bookstores Data Files — This list started out as 500, then 600, then 700, and now almost 800 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. If you find any errors in any listing, we guarantee to hunt down the error and correct it for you immediately.
Top 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. There are other stores we could have added, including the Stanford University Bookstore and the University of Washington Bookstore, both of which are among the largest bookstores in the country. But we decided to exclude bookstores associated with universities.
Note: This list below is not as up-to-date nor as complete as the Top 700 Independent Bookstore database which you can order from us. Plus the Top 700 database includes email addresses and buyer's names.
Barbara's Bookstore, 1218 S Halstead Street, Chicago IL 60607; Phone: 312-666-3161; Fax: 312-666-3255. Barbara's Bookstore at Navy Pier, 700 East Grand Avenue, Chicago IL 60611; 312-222-0890. Barbara's Bookstore, 1100 Lake Street, Oak Park IL 60301; 708-848-9140. 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; Phone: 510-486-0698; Fax: 510-486-0915.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Boulevard, Corte Madera CA 94925; Phone: 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; Phone: 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; Phone: 831-423-0900; Fax: 831-423-8371. This is a “cool independent in a university town ... with a strong, loyal customer base.”
City Lights Booksellers, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco CA 94133-4586; Phone: 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, 101 S Main Street, Seattle WA 98104; Phone: 206-624-6600; Fax: 206-343-9558.
Haslam's Book Store, 2025 Central Avenue, Saint Petersburg FL 33713-8896; Phone: 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; Phone: 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).
Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008-2024; Phone: 202-364-1919; Fax: 202-966-7532.
Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland OR 97209-3114; Phone: 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). Its flagship store, The City of Books, is being expanded to 73,000 square feet of retail space. More than 3,000 people walk through its doors every day. Their stores feature more than 1.5 million books, of which 65% are used (they buy 5,000 used books each day). 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; Phone: 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; Phone: 919-286-2700; Fax: 919-286-6063.
Square Books, 160 Courthouse Square, Oxford MS 38655-3914; Phone: 662-236-2262; 662-2234-9630.
The Tattered Cover Bookstore, Cherry Creek Store, 2955 East First Avenue, Denver CO 80206-5609; Phone: 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.”
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.
Top 700 Independent Bookstores Data Files — This list started out as 500, then 600, then 700, and now more than 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.
Copyright © 2010 by book marketing expert John Kremer
Email: JohnKremer@bookmarket.com
Open Horizons, P O Box 2887, Taos NM 87571