What a year at Left Bank Books!

Last March I interviewed Kris Kleindienst, co-owner of Left Bank Books, and wrote a post about how the venerable neighborhood bookstore was adapting to the new realities in the bookselling business. That was then. Jim reported recently that he had run into Kris at Straub's and asked how things were this holiday season. Her response was "Fabulous!" Hearing the great news I decided to contact Kris directly for the details.

Kris emailed: "The Central West End store did very well this year.  It looks like we will finish about 23% up over 2010. We like to keep in mind that we lost significant ground in 2008 when the economy collapsed, so a helpful comparison is our growth over 2007.  We are up 12% over 2007 figures in the Central West End store. We are hopeful this trend will continue in 2012.

For December alone, it looks like we will finish a fabulous 28% over December 2010.

We attribute these great numbers to a variety of factors:

1. Increased awareness of the value of shopping locally

2. The Communiity Improvement District's (CID) promotion of the neighborhood

3. Our own marketing and promotion which includes an active online and social media presence as well as hundreds of author events, and

4. The closing of Borders."

Kris concluded with: "We are thrilled with the results of our holiday season and are happy to see so many people appreciating the value of shopping at locally-owned stores."

There was an article in the New York Times recently about an uptick in independent bookstore sales and I'm so glad that this same good news applies to Left Bank Books, and to the other independent bookstore based in the CWE, Big Sleep Books.  I understand from Helen Simpson, co-owner of Big Sleep, that she and Ed King also saw increased sales this holiday season. Helen said that many of their regular customers bought books for themselves and to give as gifts. Good news indeed.

Comments

[Antony John]

This is such tremendous news. LBB is a literary hub, and a priceless cultural asset within the CWE. Congrats to Kris and crew for hanging tough during the difficult years, and thanks for continuing to offer such wonderful resources to readers and authors alike.

[Elizabeth]

Finally, it's great to hear some positive news about the local economy! I made it a point to do most of my shopping locally this year - especially at Left Bank Books and Big Sleep Books. I'm encouraged to think it made a difference. Maybe we can all resolve to try to shop more locally throughout out 2012.