List of independent bookstores in the United States

This is a list of independent bookstores in the United States, both current and defunct, which have had physical ("brick-and-mortar") locations. For bookstores with at least 4 locations, see list of bookstore chains.

Bart's Books in Ojai
Booksmith, San Francisco
The Last Bookstore, Los Angeles
Kramers (bookstore)
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge
Bluestockings in Manhattan
The Mysterious Bookshop, Manhattan

Current

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Name State Location(s) Type
Grassrootz Bookstore   Arizona Phoenix African-American
Larry Edmunds Bookshop   California Los Angeles
The Last Bookstore   California Los Angeles
Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural   California Los Angeles
Kepler's Books   California Menlo Park
Bart's Books   California Ojai
Vroman's Bookstore   California Pasadena
Libélula Books & Co.   California San Diego
Mysterious Galaxy   California San Diego and Redondo Beach
Warwick's   California San Diego
Booksmith   California San Francisco
Borderlands Books   California San Francisco
Bound Together Anarchist Collective Bookstore   California San Francisco Anarchist
City Lights Bookstore   California San Francisco
Green Apple Books & Music   California San Francisco
Marcus Books   California San Francisco (2 locations)
Book Soup   California West Hollywood
Circus of Books   California West Hollywood LGBT
Mile High Comics   Colorado Denver
Bloodroot   Connecticut Bridgeport Feminist
R.J. Julia Booksellers   Connecticut Madison
JF Books   District of Columbia
Kramers (bookstore)   District of Columbia
MahoganyBooks   District of Columbia
Politics and Prose   District of Columbia (3 locations)
For Keeps (bookstore)   Georgia Atlanta
Charis Books & More   Georgia Decatur Feminist
Quimby's Bookstore   Illinois Chicago
Seminary Co-op   Illinois Chicago
Unabridged Bookstore   Illinois Chicago LGBT
Women & Children First   Illinois Chicago LGBT/Feminist
Prairie Lights   Iowa Iowa City
ACME Comics & Collectibles   Iowa Sioux City
Rainy Day Books   Kansas Fairway
Eighth Day Books   Kansas Wichita
Joseph-Beth Booksellers   Kentucky Lexington
Weiser Antiquarian Books   Maine York
Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse   Maryland Baltimore Anarchist
Lucy Parsons Center   Massachusetts Boston Anarchist
Grolier Poetry Bookshop   Massachusetts Cambridge
Harvard Book Store   Massachusetts Cambridge
The Bookmill   Massachusetts Montague
The Odyssey Bookshop   Massachusetts South Hadley
That's Entertainment   Massachusetts Worcester
John K. King Books   Michigan Detroit
Birchbark Books   Minnesota Minneapolis
DreamHaven Books   Minnesota Minneapolis Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror
Mayday Books   Minnesota Minneapolis
Moon Palace Books   Minnesota Minneapolis
Mager's & Quinn   Minnesota Minneapolis
Black Garnet Books   Minnesota Saint Paul African-American
SubText: a Bookstore   Minnesota Saint Paul
Square Books   Mississippi Oxford
Left Bank Books   Missouri St. Louis
Montana Valley Book Store   Montana Alberton
Gambler's Book Shop   Nevada Las Vegas
The Writer's Block   Nevada Las Vegas
The Lit. Bar   New York The Bronx
Book Thug Nation   New York Brooklyn
Books Are Magic   New York Brooklyn (2 locations)
Community Bookstore   New York Brooklyn
Greenlight Bookstore   New York Brooklyn
PowerHouse Books   New York Brooklyn
Spoonbill & Sugartown Books   New York Brooklyn
Troubled Sleep   New York Brooklyn
Unnameable Books   New York Brooklyn
Argosy Book Store   New York Manhattan
Albertine Books   New York Manhattan
Bluestockings   New York Manhattan Feminist
Books of Wonder   New York Manhattan
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe   New York Manhattan
Left Bank Books   New York Manhattan
McNally Jackson   New York Manhattan/Brooklyn (5 locations)
The Mysterious Bookshop   New York Manhattan
Printed Matter, Inc   New York Manhattan
Rizzoli Bookstore   New York Manhattan
Strand Bookstore   New York Manhattan
Womanbooks   New York Manhattan Feminist
Yu & Me Books   New York Manhattan
Astoria Bookshop   New York Queens
Firestorm Cafe & Books   North Carolina Asheville Anarchist/LGBT
Internationalist Books   North Carolina Chapel Hill
The Book Loft of German Village   Ohio Columbus
Two Dollar Radio Headquarters   Ohio Columbus
The Duck Store   Oregon Eugene
Powell's Books   Oregon Portland
Rose City Book Pub   Oregon Portland
Moravian Book Shop   Pennsylvania Bethlehem
Baldwin's Book Barn   Pennsylvania Philadelphia
Giovanni's Room Bookstore   Pennsylvania Philadelphia LGBT
Hakim's Bookstore   Pennsylvania Philadelphia African-American
Wooden Shoe Books and Records   Pennsylvania Philadelphia Anarchist
City Books   Pennsylvania Pittsburgh
Otto Bookstore   Pennsylvania Williamsport
Hub City Bookshop   South Carolina Spartanburg
BookPeople   Texas Austin
Pariyatti   Washington Onalaska
Chin Music Press   Washington Seattle
Elliott Bay Book Company   Washington Seattle
Fuel Coffee & Books   Washington Seattle (3 locations)
Third Place Books   Washington Seattle (3 locations)
Left Bank Books   Washington Seattle Anarchist
Queen Anne Book Company   Washington Seattle
University Book Store   Washington Seattle
Taylor Books   West Virginia Charleston
A Room of One's Own   Wisconsin Madison LGBT/Feminist
Renaissance Books   Wisconsin Milwaukee
Woodland Pattern Book Center   Wisconsin Milwaukee

Historical

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The following is a list of independent bookstores which no longer sell books at brick-and-mortar stores but did in the past.

Name State City Years active Type
Acres of Books   California Long Beach 1934–2008
Bodhi Tree Bookstore   California Los Angeles (eventually West Hollywood) 1970–2011
The Book Shop   California Hayward ?–2017
A Change of Hobbit   California Southern California[1][2] 1972–1991 Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror
Cody's Books   California Berkeley 1956–2008
Comics and Comix   California Berkeley 1972–2004
Computer Literacy Bookshops   California Sunnyvale 1983–2000
Daliel's Bookstore   California Berkeley 1945–1952
Dawson's Book Shop   California Los Angeles 1905–?
Dutton's Books   California Valley Village (Los Angeles) and Burbank 1960–2006
Eso Won Books   California Los Angeles 1988–2022 African-American
Fahrenheit 451 Books   California Laguna Beach 1968–1994
A Different Light   California Silver Lake (Los Angeles) and The Castro (San Francisco) 1979–2011 LGBT
John Cole's Book Shop   California La Jolla (San Diego) 1946–2005
Lobal Orning   California Topanga 2003–2008
Midnight Special Bookstore   California Santa Monica 1970–2004
Old Wives Tales   California San Francisco 1976–1995 Feminist
The Other Change of Hobbit   California Berkeley[3] later in El Cerrito (now mail-order only) 1977–2014 Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror
Printers Inc. Bookstore   California Palo Alto 1978–2001
A Woman's Place   California Oakland 1970–1989 Feminist
Brian MacKenzie Infoshop   District of Columbia 2003–2008
Lambda Rising   District of Columbia 1974–2010 LGBT
Teaching for Change Bookstore   District of Columbia ?-2015
Washington Bookshop   District of Columbia 1938–1950
World Bank Infoshop   District of Columbia 1996–2016
Haslam's Bookstore   Florida St. Petersburg 1933–2020
Open Books & Records   Florida Miami Beach 1979–1994
Kroch's and Brentano's   Illinois Chicago 1954–1995
New World Resource Center   Illinois Chicago ?
Prairie Avenue Bookshop   Illinois Chicago ?–2009
Better World Books   Indiana Goshen and Mishawaka 2002–2019
Boxcar Books   Indiana Bloomington 2001–2017
Iron Rail Book Collective   Louisiana New Orleans 2003–2014 Anarchist
Greetings & Readings   Maryland Hunt Valley 1969–2019
Victor Kamkin Bookstore   Maryland Rockville 1953–2002
Globe Corner Bookstore   Massachusetts Cambridge 1982–2010
New Words Bookstore   Massachusetts Cambridge 1974–2008
Schoenhof's Foreign Books   Massachusetts Cambridge 1856–2017
Marwil Bookstore   Michigan Detroit 1948–2013
Amazon Bookstore Cooperative   Minnesota Minneapolis 1970–2012 LGBT/Feminist
Common Good Books   Minnesota Saint Paul 2006–2019
Coliseum Books   New York Manhattan 1974–2007
Community Bookstore   New York Cobble Hill, Brooklyn 1974–2016
A Different Light   New York Manhattan 1979–2011 LGBT
Forbidden Planet   New York Manhattan Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror
Gotham Book Mart   New York Manhattan 1920–2007
J. Levine Books and Judaica   New York Manhattan 1905–2019
Librairie de France   New York Manhattan 1935–2009
Nkiru Books   New York Brooklyn 1976–?
Oscar Wilde Bookshop   New York Manhattan 1967–2009 LGBT
Pomander Book Shop   New York Manhattan 1975–1990s
St. Mark's Bookshop   New York Manhattan 1977–2016
The Wooster Book Company   Ohio Wooster 1992–2017
Cameron's Books and Magazines   Oregon Portland 1938–2021
In Other Words Women's Books and Resources   Oregon Portland 1993–2018 Feminist
Leary's Book Store   Pennsylvania Philadelphia 1836–1969
Beauty and the Book   Texas Jefferson ?

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Duke Helfand, "For Science Fiction Fans, Old Habit Dies Hard : Change of Hobbit Devotees Are Already Mourning Bookstore Demise", Los Angeles Times, Feb. 10, 1991.
  2. ^ Sherry Gottlieb, "Escape Velocity: A History of A Change of Hobbit Bookstore".
  3. ^ Bullock, Ken (August 10, 2010). "The Other Change of Hobbit is Living in South Berkeley". The Berkeley Daily Planet.
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