Operating in a state of emergency is nothing new for independent black-owned bookstores, which for decades have survived on the margins of the publishing industry. But COVID-19 is posing a new kind of existential threat.
“Black bookstores are not just in business to sell books,” Coates says. For most, “their mission is to make sure that the information they are carrying expands their community and expands the minds of the people in the community.”
“What was so powerful about black-owned bookstores in the late 1960s and 1970s is that they took that concept of a black public space and steered it in a very intellectual direction and a politically radical direction, one aimed at bringing about tremendous social change,” Davis said. , author of “Waiting to Exhale” and “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” promoted her debut novel to booksellers, particularly black booksellers like Marcus Books.The renewed push in recent years to highlight the works of black authors has boosted the fortunes of black-owned bookstores, says James Fugate, co-owner of, a longtime hub of black intellectualism and community in the Leimert Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles that has hosted two presidents – Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Fueling reader loyalty: deep ties to the neighborhoods and communities in which the indie bookstores operate, according to Harvard Business School professor Ryan Raffaelli. Indie booksellers strengthened these relationships by hand-selecting books for customers and by becoming community venues for lectures, book signings and reading groups.
At Eso Won, Fugate says his store is filling phone and online orders at a rapid clip. Sales, which were down in March, bounced back in April and early May. Still, he had to lay off part-time staffers and the future remains uncertain. “We have to take it day by day,” he says.From her customary perch behind the counter under a wooden"African Queen" sign, Richardson is fighting to preserve her parents’ legacy and to write the next chapter of Marcus Books.
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