Jackson Heights Life

Hey, I'd be all for just a good USED book store; I don't care about the chains.

I would imagine it's largely a chicken/egg issue.  Many of us shop outside the neighborhood because there aren't shops that sell what we're looking for.  There aren't shops that sell what we're looking for because many of us shop outside the neighborhood...

Precisely: there's a classic vicious circle at work here.

Very interesting story from Brooklyn...  A ambitious entrepreneur takes a risk on opening an independent bookstore in Fort Greene, and the community turns out to support her.


The New York Times
Big City: Dream of Bookstore Fights Any Number of Trends
By SUSAN DOMINUS
Published: September 18, 2008

After Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, 29, graduated from New York University with an English degree in 2001, she did what she was supposed to do, which was land a coveted job as an editorial assistant at a major publishing house.

She cried every day.

It wasn’t that Ms. Stockton Bagnulo did not love books enough. She loved them too much. Writing book-jacket copy from a cubicle, sorting files, “I felt so far from the things we were making,” she recalled.

Longing for the part-time job she had in college, at Three Lives, an independent bookstore in the West Village, Ms. Stockton Bagnulo returned to working there on weekends to cheer herself up. At some point she realized that graduate school in creative writing was not the answer (which was good, because she didn’t get in anywhere). “Gradually,” she said, “it dawned on me that the big, important thing I wanted to do was open a bookstore.”

(Follow link for complete article)

I would love that. And frankly, if I had enough money to do it, I would do it myself.  :smitten:

A book store would be fantastic.  I woiuld hope you'd include children's books as well as Jackson Heights centric "stuff"--map of the hood, mugs, tee shirts and puzzles!!  Sounds like fun.

For a bookstore that would meet most of our various needs, it would need to have a large retail space.   Maybe when a bank eventually folds (likely given today's climate) you can swoop in and get the space?

There was also a bookstore on 37th between 80 and 81st - anyone remember that? I do not remember it but would like to find out more about it. I know that when the cell phone store opened up in its place, they had to clean out a bunch of books from the basement.

Im really excited about this idea, and I am glad so many of you are as well. I am doing my research now and definitely collecting all your input. Now really is not the best time for small businesses/loans, but we'll see what the future holds. Im not looking for a money machine, I know that would be improbable. But I do think it is something I would really enjoy being a part of. We'll see...  :smitten: