<
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/10/books/bookstores-diversity-pandemic.html>
"People told Lucy Yu it was a crazy time to open a bookstore in Chinatown. It
was early 2021, and the pandemic had devastated the neighborhood, forcing
dozens of stores and restaurants to close. The rise of anti-Asian hate crimes
had shaken residents and local business owners.
But Ms. Yu believed that a bookstore was just what the neighborhood needed.
She raised around $20,000 on GoFundMe, enough to rent a narrow storefront — a
former funeral supply store — on Mulberry Street in downtown Manhattan. A
neighborhood grant gave her $2,000 for shelves and books. And in December, she
opened Yu and Me Books, which specializes in titles by and about immigrants and
people of color.
The store was profitable within four months, Ms. Yu said.
Yu and Me Books is one of more than 300 new independent bookstores that have
sprouted across the United States in the past couple of years, in a surprising
and welcome revival after an early pandemic slump. And as the number of stores
has grown, the book selling business — traditionally overwhelmingly white — has
also become much more diverse."
Via Ether Schindler, who wrote "…and oh my I want to visit several of these
bookstores!"
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
