I heart PGH

IheartPGH: a blog about Pittsburgh and people who love this city

  • Guides
    • Pittsburgh Restaurant Openings & Closings
    • Guide to Independent Bookstores in Pittsburgh
    • Creative Wedding Venues
    • Pittsburgh Hashtag Directory
    • Best Areas for Young Professionals to Live
    • Drive-Ins
    • Hot Dog Shops
    • Independent Movie Theaters
    • Local Breweries
    • New to Pittsburgh
    • Port Authority: Using the Bus
    • Public Pools
    • Unique, Interesting, and Fun Classes
  • Pittsburgh Events Calendar
    • Submit An Event
  • FAQ
  • About
You are here: Home / Arts & Culture / Books N'at / The Beginning of a Bookstore

The Beginning of a Bookstore

July 29, 2011 Lindsay

You may have noticed a post here on I<3PGH a few weeks ago about the East End Book Exchange.  Book lover and occasional I<3PGH blogger Lesley Rains is exploring the idea of setting up a used book store here in Pittsburgh.

This is hopefully good news for Pittsburgh.  Not so long ago, there were many a book shop to be found in the east end…

  • Sq. Hill Bookshop (which is now Massage Envy on Forbes)
  • Atlantic Booksellers (also on Forbes ave – but I am not sure what is there now)
  • Pinocchio Books (a kids book store that was located in the basement of Shadyside Village on Aiken)
  • Jay’s Book Stall (was located on Forbes in Oakland)
  • Three Penny Books (was located at 1827 Murray Ave)

These little guys were replaced by bigger guys and we said hello to Barnes and Noble and most recently Borders in East Liberty.

The end of a book shop on Highland Ave

Maybe things are coming full circle and back to the little guys.  One of the things I have noticed over the past few years in Shadyside is that Walnut Street – which had become lined with national chains has seen some more independent shops return.  While Max and Erma’s closed – locally owned Elbow Room has moved to Walnut Street and expanded with a new restaurant in their old Ellsworth location.

And things are going well for the Big Idea Bookshop, which is moving to a bigger space in Bloomfield.  Thanks to Karen the Small Press Librarian for the heads up.  Check out Karen’s blog for more info about book shops.

Pop Up Shops

So maybe that means that Pittsburgh is ready for another independent bookshop.  One way to test the waters is with a “pop up shop.”   Pop up shops are popping up everywhere for every product imaginable.  Here is a post from The Thread Austin about a pop up popsicle shop.     John Morris just posted an interesting article about cities and pop up urbanism over on the blog DiggingPitt. Looking for more info on pop up shops – check out this post from Inc Magazine “How to Open a Pop-Up Store“.

The East End Book Exchange will test the Pittsburgh waters with their first pop-up shop at the Pittsburgh Public Market this Sunday.

East End Book Exchange debuts at the Pittsburgh Public Market
Sunday, July 31, 2011
10am-4pm
Facebook Event – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=238837232805862

Lend some support by stopping by to say hello and to browse some books at their table at the Pittsburgh Public Market.

Can’t make it to the market? Visit their blog and follow East End Book Exchange on Facebook.

Sharing is Caring:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Filed Under: Books N'at Tagged With: Barnes & Noble, book shops, Bookselling, east end book exchange, pop up shops

About Lindsay

Lindsay has been writing about Pittsburgh since 2005. She likes pretzels from the Pretzel Shop on Carson St., used book stores, her rollerblades and she hopes to learn to skateboard someday soon.

« Run, Bike, Swim Through This Weekend of Fun
Blogging Batman In The Burgh »

Comments

  1. daneldridge says

    July 31, 2011 at 5:19 PM

    Lindsay, is Awesome Books still operating on Penn Ave in Garfield?

    • iheartpghcom says

      July 31, 2011 at 5:32 PM

      I think Awesome books is still open. I don't know if they have awebsite or not.

    • iheartpghcom says

      August 1, 2011 at 4:24 PM

      I found the Awesome Books Facebook page here – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Awesome-Books/16864…

Trackbacks

  1. Pop-Up Pittsburgh | I Heart PGH says:
    August 18, 2011 at 1:39 PM

    […] In a previous post about the state of used bookstores in Pittsburgh, Lindsay mentioned the emergence of a new business model, the pop-up.  Pop-up businesses occupy a […]

  2. Bringing Back the Book Shops – You’re Invited to the East End Book Exchange Grand Opening | I heart PGH says:
    November 14, 2012 at 9:56 AM

    […] July my friend Lesley wrote a post about wanting to open a book shop in Pittsburgh.  I wrote a follow up post reminicing about all of the book shops that used to be open in Sq. Hill and Oakland.  I am happy […]

Follow IheartPGH

Follow us! FacebookFollow us! TwitterFollow us! InstagramFollow us! TumblrFollow us! E-mail

Most Popular Posts

For the Love of Local Pizza: Plan to Have Spak Brothers Pizza This Weekend
Things To Do On Monday in Pittsburgh
Get a Sneak Peek of the New TechShop Pittsburgh on Saturday
Guide to unique, interesting, and fun classes and workshops in Pittsburgh
Revisiting the 2nd Oldest House in Pittsburgh
PGH Trivia: Hill Street Blues
Was it Professor Plum, with the Candlestick ... in the Library?
The Fineman House in Stanton Heights

IheartPGH delievered to your inbox

* = required field
unsubscribe from list

Almost Famous

As Featured In:
Featured in Alltop

Tweets N’@

My Tweets
  • About
  • Contact
  • Join Our Email List
  • Submit An Event

Contact Us

info@iheartpgh.com
  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Archive

Copyright © 2023 · Gigawatt Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.