After Forest Hills lost its only bookstore
Three former B&N employees try to open an independent bookshop
Queens, NY — Twinkling Christmas lights hang above Austin street, the main commercial thoroughfare of Forest Hills, a middle-class neighborhood in Queens. It’s a tradition that around this time of year the Forest Hills Choir would perform at the Barnes & Noble, located on this street and dubbed as the “community center” of the town. But not this year.
On January 1, Forest Hills lost its only bookstore. Almost a year later, local residents still lack a place to shop for books. Vina Castillo, Holly Nikodem, and Natalie Noboa, three former employees from the Barnes & Noble, are looking to offer a remedy. Raising $72,360 on Kickstarter from 831 supporters so far, they plan to open an independent bookstore.
The three girls believe that the business model of the country’s largest bookseller is out of date, and independent bookstores are the future. “Being a corporation, they have to maintain a cohesive storefront no matter where they are located,” said Nikodem. “So Barnes & Noble can only do so much to reflect Forest Hills.” Looking for a space of 1,200 to 1,900 square feet, about one-tenth of the size of the former Barnes & Noble, they hope to open a small, cozy bookshop with book recommendations that reflect the ethnically diverse residents of the community.
They have a point. Barnes & Noble has struggled in the past decade as more consumers buy books from Amazon. The internet giant undercuts brick-and-mortar booksellers by saving costs on store rents and staff salaries. Even with large inventories in store, Barnes & Noble still can’t compete with an online retailer that has an almost unlimited selection. In the past five years, the company’s revenue has dropped by 22.7 percent to $4.1 million in 2016. Three years ago, it announced that it would shut down one-third of its stores by 2023. In contrast, independent bookstores have bubbled nationwide, growing from 1651 in 2009 to more than 2,300 this year, according to American Booksellers Association’s membership record.
After all three Barnes & Noble closed, Queens, the largest borough in New York City with 2.3 million people, is left with one general-purpose bookstore, called the Astoria Bookshop. Opened three years ago, it has grown from a one-woman operation to a crew of four full-time employees. “I think that [Barnes & Noble]’s business model doesn’t really work anymore. That’s cash on the shelf,” said the owner Lexi Beach, sitting in her tiny office stockpiled with books from floor to ceiling. Unlike the spacious Barnes & Noble stores, every square feet here must be carefully utilized. “And of course, you have customers who come in, drink coffee, spill coffee and leave,” Beach added.
The three former Barnes & Noble employees have reached out to Beach for advice. Her success formula — instead of competing with Amazon on price and choice, independent bookshops should strive to be part of a community of book lovers. A glance at the Astoria Bookshop will show what that entails. Attached all over the bookshelves are sticky notes of handwritten book recommendations by Beach, her colleagues, and patrons. The messages are often heartfelt and personal. Beneath the book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts,” one note reads, “I wish I could have read it in high school, and that all my teachers had read it too. And my mom. And every boss I’ve ever had.”
Despite their optimism, the three girls face the same difficulty as Barnes & Noble in securing a physical store in Forest Hills with a limited budget. After visiting 10 stores since September, they narrowed down to two locations. However, one store, coveted by another bidder, was soon taken off the market. Another would cost too much to renovate. “Such is the reality of commercial real estate,” they wrote in a newsletter to their supporters last month.
Forest Hills had been a mom-and-pop neighborhood until national chains poured in three decades ago, propping up the commercial real estate rental prices. Today, on the bustling Austin street stationed household names such as GAP, Ann Taylor, and Banana Republic. Ironically, Barnes & Noble was part of the movement. Arrived in 1979, it established a small store by acquiring the lease of a mom-and-pop bookshop called Marboro. Then in 1995, it moved to Austin street and expanded into a two-floor, 22,000-square feet store.
When Barnes & Noble’s long-term lease with Muss Development was approaching to an end last year, Target, eyeing to open a second store in the neighborhood, offered a rent jump. Although frequented by locals, the bookstore was not profitable enough to match the bid. When the news came out, over 6000 residents signed a petition, addressed to Muss Development and the local government, to keep Barnes & Noble open. One wrote down, “I take my god-daughter there to sit and read books together.” Another said, “I met my girlfriend in this store as two strangers.”
Despite local protests, Muss Development signed a 15-year lease with Target. It declined to comment on the new rental price. On the final day of operation, some parents brought their kids to visit the Barnes & Noble one last time. In the hours before it closed, employees sang “So Long, Farewell” from the Sound of Music, as customers walked out of the store.
Unlike Barnes & Noble, the three girls are undaunted by the pressure to make rent. As for now, they have been trying to offer books for the neighborhood with guerrilla-style sales. Over Thanksgiving weekend, they packed a collection of children’s books and local writers’ books and set up a booth in a local Italian gourmet store. During the four-hour break, they sold one copy — a father purchased a storybook for his son.
Even if they find a location to open the bookshop, sustaining the business will still be a challenge. The Queens public library in Forest Hills recently expanded its hours after receiving its new budget. Holding book talks and free writing workshops, it has offered an alternative community center. Furthermore, books are competing for consumer’s attention and budget with movies, streaming services, and social media. Nationwide, the book publishing industry has seen its revenue decreasing at an annualized rate of 0.8 percent in the past five years, despite rising gains from textbook sales.
For the newcomers in town, Barnes & Noble is not part of their memory. On a Sunday afternoon, the Target seems well-trafficked: about 12 people waited in line at the cashier, where three staff were busy loading grocery, Christmas decorations, and household supplies into baskets. At the electronics counter, a Target employee warmly welcomed every passing customer. When asked about the departed bookstore, he said, “Do you mean a Barnes & Noble in the store? No, we don’t have that.”
