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Strand Bookstore
40°44′00″N 73°59′27″W / 40.7333°N 73.9908°W
The Strand Bookstore is an independent bookstore located at 828 Broadway, at the corner of East 12th Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, two blocks south of Union Square. There are additional locations at Lincoln Center and on the Upper West Side, as well as kiosks in Central Park and Times Square, and a curated shelf at Moynihan Train Hall. The company's slogan is "18 Miles Of Books," as featured on its stickers, T-shirts, and other merchandise. In 2016, The New York Times called The Strand "the undisputed king of the city’s independent bookstores."
The Strand is a family-owned business with more than 230 employees. Many notable New York City artists have worked at the store, including rock musicians of the 1970s: Patti Smith – who claimed not to have liked the experience because it "wasn't very friendly" – and Tom Verlaine, who was fond of the discount book carts sitting outside the store. Other celebrity employees include Richard Hell, Neil Winokur, Adam Bellow, Sam Shepard, Mary Gaitskill, Burt Britton, Lucy Sante, Marvin Mondlin, Ken Schles, and Thomas Weatherly Jr.[citation needed]
The Strand has had a unionized workforce for over 35 years. On April 5, 2012, unionized workers at the store rejected a new contract; on June 15, 2012, workers ratified a new contract.
Besides the main store and Central Park kiosk, an additional location called the "Strand Book Annex" opened in the 1980s and was originally located on Front Street in the South Street Seaport complex. It moved in 1996 to Fulton and Gold Streets in the Financial District, but finally closed on September 22, 2008, due to rent increases. A branch in the Flatiron District opened in 2013, and a summer kiosk in Times Square opened in 2016. In 2020 The Strand's planned opening of its Upper West Side location was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2005, the main store underwent a major renovation and expansion, with the addition of an elevator, air conditioning, and a re-organization of the floors to make browsing easier for shoppers. It also began to sell discounted new books and non-book merchandise.
The bookstore had 70,000 books in its early years, which increased by the mid-1960s to 500,000. By the 1990s it had 2.5 million books, which necessitated the renting of a warehouse in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. At that time, the oldest book for sale in the Strand was an edition of Magna Moralia, which was priced at $4,500. The most expensive book is a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses at $38,000. While the store continues to boast the slogan, "18 miles of books," it now houses over "23 miles" of books.
Benjamin Bass was an emigrant from Lithuania who came to the United States when he was 17. He worked as a messenger, salesman and subway construction worker before he came across the used-book district on Fourth Avenue between Astor Place and Union Square. His first bookstore was the Pelican Book Shop on Eighth Street near Greene Street. However, the store was not a success, and Bass next opened the Strand – named after the street in London – in 1927 with $300 in his own savings and $300 he borrowed; early on, he slept on a cot in the store. The new store was able to survive the Depression by use of Bass's extensive network of contacts. Furthermore, his landlord was the last of the city's noted Stuyvesant family, which carried the store through its lean years when Bass could not pay his rent; Bass later paid back the debt, and agreed to a schedule of voluntary rent increases during rent controls which were instituted with World War II. After rent controls ended, the Stuyvesant interests doubled the rents on their other properties, but not on the Strand.
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Strand Bookstore
40°44′00″N 73°59′27″W / 40.7333°N 73.9908°W
The Strand Bookstore is an independent bookstore located at 828 Broadway, at the corner of East 12th Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, two blocks south of Union Square. There are additional locations at Lincoln Center and on the Upper West Side, as well as kiosks in Central Park and Times Square, and a curated shelf at Moynihan Train Hall. The company's slogan is "18 Miles Of Books," as featured on its stickers, T-shirts, and other merchandise. In 2016, The New York Times called The Strand "the undisputed king of the city’s independent bookstores."
The Strand is a family-owned business with more than 230 employees. Many notable New York City artists have worked at the store, including rock musicians of the 1970s: Patti Smith – who claimed not to have liked the experience because it "wasn't very friendly" – and Tom Verlaine, who was fond of the discount book carts sitting outside the store. Other celebrity employees include Richard Hell, Neil Winokur, Adam Bellow, Sam Shepard, Mary Gaitskill, Burt Britton, Lucy Sante, Marvin Mondlin, Ken Schles, and Thomas Weatherly Jr.[citation needed]
The Strand has had a unionized workforce for over 35 years. On April 5, 2012, unionized workers at the store rejected a new contract; on June 15, 2012, workers ratified a new contract.
Besides the main store and Central Park kiosk, an additional location called the "Strand Book Annex" opened in the 1980s and was originally located on Front Street in the South Street Seaport complex. It moved in 1996 to Fulton and Gold Streets in the Financial District, but finally closed on September 22, 2008, due to rent increases. A branch in the Flatiron District opened in 2013, and a summer kiosk in Times Square opened in 2016. In 2020 The Strand's planned opening of its Upper West Side location was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2005, the main store underwent a major renovation and expansion, with the addition of an elevator, air conditioning, and a re-organization of the floors to make browsing easier for shoppers. It also began to sell discounted new books and non-book merchandise.
The bookstore had 70,000 books in its early years, which increased by the mid-1960s to 500,000. By the 1990s it had 2.5 million books, which necessitated the renting of a warehouse in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. At that time, the oldest book for sale in the Strand was an edition of Magna Moralia, which was priced at $4,500. The most expensive book is a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses at $38,000. While the store continues to boast the slogan, "18 miles of books," it now houses over "23 miles" of books.
Benjamin Bass was an emigrant from Lithuania who came to the United States when he was 17. He worked as a messenger, salesman and subway construction worker before he came across the used-book district on Fourth Avenue between Astor Place and Union Square. His first bookstore was the Pelican Book Shop on Eighth Street near Greene Street. However, the store was not a success, and Bass next opened the Strand – named after the street in London – in 1927 with $300 in his own savings and $300 he borrowed; early on, he slept on a cot in the store. The new store was able to survive the Depression by use of Bass's extensive network of contacts. Furthermore, his landlord was the last of the city's noted Stuyvesant family, which carried the store through its lean years when Bass could not pay his rent; Bass later paid back the debt, and agreed to a schedule of voluntary rent increases during rent controls which were instituted with World War II. After rent controls ended, the Stuyvesant interests doubled the rents on their other properties, but not on the Strand.