Indie Bookshop Boom
- Social reporting notes over 700 indie bookshops have opened since 2024, and print sales rose for two consecutive years. - The trend was highlighted in posts that gathered substantial engagement and discussion among readers and booksellers. - The growth suggests continued appetite for physical bookstores and printed books despite digital competition. (x.com)
Independent bookstores are still opening across the U.S., with the trade group for indies reporting 323 new stores in 2024 after more than 200 opened in 2023. (bookweb.org) The American Booksellers Association said its membership grew 18% in 2024, and Publishers Weekly reported that 323 bookstores opened that year while 37 closed. The 2024 openings included 60 stores owned by Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, and 21 Black-owned stores. (bookweb.org) (publishersweekly.com) Print books also posted back-to-back annual gains. Circana BookScan data, as reported by Publishers Weekly, showed U.S. print unit sales rose 0.5% in 2024 to 782.7 million, then rose another 0.3% in 2025 to 762.4 million. (publishersweekly.com 1) (publishersweekly.com 2) The store growth comes after several years in which independent booksellers rebuilt their footprint. The American Booksellers Association’s 2023 report said more than 200 indie bookstores opened that year, and its 2024 report called 2024 the fourth straight year with more than 200 new openings. (bookweb.org 1) (bookweb.org 2) Booksellers are expanding both in person and online. For Independent Bookstore Day 2025, the association said more than 1,600 stores took part, and online sales at more than 560 stores using its IndieCommerce platform jumped 77.41% from the 2024 event. (bookweb.org) That annual event is getting bigger in 2026. Publishers Weekly reported on April 15 that the American Booksellers Association expected 2,000 member bookstores to participate in Independent Bookstore Day on April 25, up from 1,600 in 2025. (publishersweekly.com) The rebound has not been even across every month or category. Publishers Weekly reported that print sales slipped 0.9% in the first quarter of 2025 and 0.9% in the first nine months of 2025 before the full-year total still finished slightly higher. (publishersweekly.com 1) (publishersweekly.com 2) Independent booksellers are also still operating under pressure from thin margins, higher costs, and competition from Amazon, as the association wrote in its 2024 annual report. Even so, the trade group’s latest reports show readers are still buying printed books and new owners are still signing leases for physical stores. (bookweb.org)
