A day after New York City’s iconic Strand Bookstore begged the reading public for help to keep it in business, hundreds of New Yorkers thronged the sidewalk of their Upper West Side and East Village stores on Saturday in order to buy books and merchandise to help in their own way to keep the business afloat.
New York! Thank you so much. My heart is so full. I cannot express my gratitude enough for your support. #savethestrand @strandbookstore pic.twitter.com/M0SyU9pm24
— Nancy Bass Wyden (@nancybasswyden) October 24, 2020
In a statement on Friday, October 23, the Strand Bookstore said its revenue has dropped 70% compared to last year and that the loans and cash reserves it relied on from the beginning of the pandemic have been depleted. The store's owner, Nancy Bass Wyden, called the store's business "unsustainable" without the help of its loyal customers in a letter addressed to "dear friends" of the bookstore.
? We need your help. This is the post we hoped to never write, but today marks a huge turning point in The Strand's history. Our revenue has dropped nearly 70% compared to last year, and the loans and cash reserves that have kept us afloat these past months are depleted. pic.twitter.com/mI074pigZu
— Strand Book Store (@strandbookstore) October 23, 2020
The statement encouraged supporters of the store to spend money, buy gift cards and support the store using #savethestrand on social media. Celebrities and authors have also shared the plea on Twitter for book lovers to do their Christmas gift shopping on the Strand Bookstore website to support the Strand’s efforts to stay open.
I'm going online shopping at the @strandbookstore today. I hope you do the same? #SaveTheStrand https://t.co/TXBO287uPF
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) October 23, 2020
The beloved bookstore has been a New York City landmark for 93 years and Bass Wyden its third generation owner. Bass-Wyden’s grandfather Benjamin Bass founded the used book store in 1927.
“We’ve survived just about everything for 93 years — the Great Depression, two World Wars, big box bookstores, e-books and online behemoths. We’re the last of the original 48 bookstores still standing from 4th Avenue’s famous Book Row,” Bass Wyden continued. “As the 3rd generation owner, I have tried to imagine what my dad and grandfather would do right now after they spent their entire lives — 6 days a week — working at the store. I don’t believe they would want me to give up without a fight and that’s why I’m writing you today.”
She cites, among others, the huge drop in foot traffic and in-store events due to Covid-19 restrictions as one of the main reasons the business is becoming unsustainable.
If the landmark looks familiar, it is because this much-cherished New York institution has also appeared in films like Six Degrees of Separation and Julie & Julia, as well as TV shows like Sex and the City and Gossip Girl.
More importantly, for book lovers and collectors, the Strand stakes its claim to fame by stocking roughly 2.5 million rare, used and new books, giving loyal and new customers more than enough choice for their reading and gift-giving pleasure. – The Vibes, October 26, 2020
