Neighbors Rescue Small Bookstores By Investing
In Them
Instead of trying to save small local bookstores by invoking historic
preservation laws, environmental review laws, zoning laws and
the like, activists are starting to “put their money where
their mouths are,” according to a column by Nathaniel Popper
in the January 18 Wall Street Journal. Brooklyn’s
once failing Community Bookstore has seven new investors. According
to the article, investor John Turturro, an actor, had the means
to invest from his disposable income, but Rebeccah Welch and her
partner took out a loan using their apartment as collateral to
invest $10,000. She said, “We invested because it’s
almost like an educational institution; it’s an anchor for
the community.” Groups of investors who are saving local
bookstores are a far cry from the angry political protests that
have been raised when a new Borders bookstore comes into a neighborhood.
Stores that have been saved by spontaneous investors range from
Brent Books and Cards in downtown Chicago to Kepler’s Books
and Magazines in Menlo Park, California.
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