The Charlotte area seems to be experiencing an independent bookstore boom.
It’s the trend nationwide, according to membership numbers and store openings from the American Booksellers Association.
Channel 9′s Elsa Gillis recently visited some of the new shops on the block.
“So, our line was out the door, down to Central, down the block, down to the next street,” Katie Mitchell, with Trope Bookshop in Plaza Midwood, said about the store’s March opening weekend.
“I do think that there’s an appetite and a craving for people wanting to shop local and shop smaller,” Mitchell said.
The romance-only bookstore is one of the latest independent book shops to open in the Charlotte area.
“Honestly, TikTok has revived the book industry in a way that can’t be overstated,” Mitchell said. “It has just reminded people that there are options other than scrolling and TV, and this huge community has sort of been built online.”
Troubadour Booksellers in east Charlotte is another new kid on the block, owned by Scott Tynes-Miller.
“It’s definitely exciting to see people really excited to see us here,” Tynes-Miller said. “We are a bookstore and we sell books, but we also are a community living room. What we’re tapping into here is that sense of community. We want to be a resource for the east Charlotte community and Charlotte as a whole.”
That sense of community is something Sally Brewster with Park Road Books, which has been a staple at Park Road Shopping Center since 1977, has seen weather the test of time – and the internet.
“Somewhere where you can come in, be comfortable, you can spend the day here. We don’t mind. We just ask that you leave at nine,” Brewster said.
She’s thrilled to see the boom in indie bookstores.
“It’s been a hard situation in Charlotte because rents are high…and then you can’t raise your prices with books. So I’m thrilled that finally, we’re getting some bookstores here in Charlotte,” Brewster said.
You can get to know 22 of the area’s indie book shops throughout the month of April during the Greater Charlotte Book Crawl.
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