Another One Bites The Dust

A person could make a living writing about the mournful last days of independent bookstores in various cities large and small (or they could for a little while longer, anyway), so I've tried not to post too many notices of long time favorites closing up shop in favor of...well...in favor of nothing, I imagine, since who can afford to move into huge storefronts like those once occupied by the likes of Kepler's, Cody's, Duttons (though, actually, Duttons is now occupied, at least partially, by a bookstore, Diesel), Midnight Special etc. etc. etc. But I just read this note from Ingrid Nystrom, who managed the events at Stacy's in San Francisco for over a decade, and which is closing up shop this month after 70+ years, and thought I'd repost a bit of it:

I’d like to again say thanks for all of your support over the years. When I first started working for Stacey’s, I was excited at the opportunities open to me but a bit disappointed that I wasn’t in a neighborhood bookstore. What I have realized in my eleven years here is that I am in a neighborhood bookstore. It may be a slightly strange neighborhood that arrives at 8 in the morning and goes home by 8 in the evening, but it has its regular rhythms, its regular characters, and a sense of community for anyone wishing to extend themselves. After talking with so many customers disappointed by Stacey’s closure, I’ve been reminded that Stacey’s has served as a decompression zone between work and home, a welcoming island of culture, a Christmas treat, a literary community, an escape from corporate-land, an interesting talk with lunch, and, of course, a bookstore. Whatever Stacey’s did or didn’t mean to you, I would like to remind you to look around you at your physical community and think about what matters. And if it matters, remember to step outside of your virtual world, unplug your iPods, look up from your Blackberrys and shop it, talk it, engage it.

Stacy's was a hallmark on any author's book tour -- I did their lunch time reading series twice and also signed at another store (Palo Alto, I think) -- and one of the coolest things was that after your event, you got to pick a book to take home for free. The location in the financial district was fun to read at during lunch because you never knew who would be sitting there or if anyone would pay attention to what you were reading. (I recall that when I signed there the first time for Fake Liar Cheat, I arrived a few minutes before my event and saw all those people sitting in the chairs and thought, Oh, man, I've made it! People in suits! I've totally transcended my audience!) It's sad that it's closing, but the really sad thing is that it's not even that big of a deal since so many other stores of its ilk have disappeared, too. It's like when the Washington Post announced it was getting rid of Book World -- it was upsetting, but so much the norm now that it wasn't even worth noting here.