Books Inc. weathered the Civil War and both World Wars, the Great Depression and the rise of the internet and Amazon.com. But the chain — one of the nation’s oldest — said earlier this year that it was filing for bankruptcy protection, citing rising costs, disappearing readership and other pressures that have challenged indie bookstore chains for years, since the advent of big box book retailers.
Now, a former competitor has become the company’s savior. Barnes & Noble, the largest U.S. bookstore brand, has agreed to purchase the regional chain for $3.25 million. If approved, the deal will allow the 174-year-old chain to keep operating under the Books Inc. name.
“This agreement will ensure that Book Inc.’s legacy will continue for the foreseeable future,” CEO Andy Perham said in a statement. He added that “Barnes & Noble’s deep resources and world-class support” will allow Books Inc. “to quickly modernize its operations so we can focus on what we do best: connecting people with books, ideas and each other.”
Perham is a 15-year employee of the regional chain who became chief executive in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown gutted local retailers across the United States. Perham said in January that the investors and managers at Books Inc. had agreed bankruptcy was “the fastest path toward putting our company on a smaller, financially stronger platform.”
On the other hand, Barnes & Noble is in the midst of an expansion push that entails launching more than 60 locations in 2025. The growth contrasts a national backdrop of retail retrenchment; U.S. store closings were expected by some analysts to more than double this year in moves driven by liquidations and scaled-back retail footprints as economic uncertainty continues to plague consumers, analysts say.
As for Books Inc., this is not the first time the chain has sought a second act.
Launched in San Francisco in the 1850s by a Bavarian immigrant who had struck it rich in the California gold rush, the bookstore in its early years promoted West Coast authors such as Brett Harte and Mark Twain. By the mid-1990s, it had stores dotted across the country, “just as the national chain stores were discovering and colonizing the West Coast,” according to the Books Inc. website. Struggling against gathering headwinds, the chain subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was forced to shutter 10 of its 12 stores. It emerged from that bankruptcy in 1997.
This time around, Books Inc. says it won’t have to close stores, with the exception of its Berkeley outlet, which went dark in February. Under the proposed deal, the rest of its seven neighborhood locations, as well as two stores at San Francisco International Airport, will remain open. Customers will be able maintain their loyalty points, which will transfer to Barnes & Noble’s system, and gift cards will still be honored.
Across the country, independent bookstores have grappled for years with rising costs and competition from big box stores. However, many have continued to thrive by focusing on popular niches, such as romance, and doubling as community meeting spots.
In the Bay Area, City Lights in San Francisco’s North Beach remains a draw for tourists as a famous hangout for 1950s beat poets, while Marcus Books in Oakland is an iconic destination specializing in Black American history and culture. At Clio’s, an Oakland bookstore and bar, owner Timothy Don has arranged the books chronologically, beginning with the creation of the universe to titles leading up to the present day.