Tag Archives: Bookselling

Independent Bookstore Day & A Map of Every Independent Bookstore in Pittsburgh

UPDATE 4/24/2019:

Please visit Very Local Pittsburgh for an updated Guide to Independent Bookstores in Pittsburgh.

Info on Independent Bookstore Day 2019 events in Pittsburgh is available here.

The last Saturday in April is Independent Bookstore Day, the official hashtag for Independent Bookstore Day is #BookstoreDay. The #BookstoreDay hashtag is a great way to take a peak at how folks across the country are celebrating local booksellers. Indie bookshops across the country are hosting parties and inviting customer and friends to buy books from their local booksellers. If you are interested in learning more about the business of book selling, Kim Lyons wrote a story for the Trib this week, Independent bookshops find unlikely prosperity, that digs into some of the statistics on the brick-and-mortar bookstore trends.

Independent Bookstore Day Events in Pittsburgh

Some of Pittsburgh’s book stores have big plans to celebrate on Saturday. Here are some of the local events for Independent Bookstore Day:

White Whale Books
- 25% off all used books all day long,
- prizes hidden among the stacks
- 12-2pm Baby Loves Tacos pop-up
- 7-9pm release party for Pittsburgh Poetry Review’s newest issue
Nine Stores
- 20% off store wide
City of Asylum Bookshop
- 11:30am: all-ages children’s puppet show with Felicia Cooper and story hour with Bookseller Jen.
- 1:00 – 3:00pm: Book signing with City of Asylum Exiled Writer-In-Residence Osama Alomar
- 1:00pm & 2:00pm: Tours of our Alphabet City building
- a scavenger hunt for kids
- raffles and door prizes
- surprise discounts
- an exclusive, limited edition chapbook by Michael Chabon

Guide to Pittsburgh Independent Bookstores

One of our most popular posts on the blog is our guide to independent movie theaters around town. Just in time for Independent Bookstore Day we bring you a guide to local bookshops around town. In 2015, NextPittsburgh published a guide to independent bookshops in Pittsburgh. In the past two years, Pittsburgh has seen several new bookshops open and we have put together an updated guide to independent bookstores in Pittsburgh which includes a Google map of all 16 shops.

Bringing Back the Book Shops – You’re Invited to the East End Book Exchange Grand Opening

a peek at the new home of East End Book Exchange

Last 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 to write yet another post to tell you about the next chapter of East End Book Exchange!

For the past year – the East End Book Exchange operated out of the Pittsburgh Public Market – open each Friday, Saturday and Sunday with an extensive collection of books for their little space.

While the Pittsburgh Public Market may be struggling as a market – it has been the perfect incubator for Pittsburghers to test out their businesses before moving to a storefront. The Crested Duck Charcuterie started out in the public market before opening a store front in Beechview and they just announced they are expanding again!

East End Book Exchange

This Saturday the East End Book Exchange opens the doors to their new permanent location on Liberty Ave in Bloomfield. Just down the street from The Big Idea Bookshop – Bloomfield is the perfect home for a used book shop. There are also at least 3 other awesome resale shops on Liberty Ave – including the newly opened Clothes Minded. Making Liberty Avenue a perfect place for vintage shopping and browsing unique finds in clothing, books and more.

Read more about the East End Book Exchange in Pop City Media here.

Everyone is invited to their grand opening celebration on Friday night – get a sneak peek and pick up your favorite books before the shop officially opens on Saturday.

East End Book Exchange Grand Opening Celebration
Friday, November 16, 2012
6-8pm
East End Books Exchange @ 4754 Liberty Ave
Please RSVP on Facebook here

The Beginning of a Bookstore

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.