Although many major chain bookstores in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs have closed, including the Borders at Clark, Broadway and Diversey Streets in Lakeview, Women & Children First in Andersonville is doing fine—if not getting better from financial and business standpoints.
Since the start of the year, for instance, the long-time independent bookstore run by Linda Bubon and Ann Christophersen has been selling Google eBooks through their website. "The Google eBooks have a great advantage over the Kindle books because they can be read on a myriad of devices," Bubon said. "This is finally a way to compete with Amazon because you can read your Google eBooks on anything, [including] your computer, iPhone, iPad, Nook, etc."
Women & Children First continues to offer a full program schedule of author events, Bubon noted. Especially of late. "People still seem to want to read their books here and celebrate the publications of their books here. That's been a good, solid part of the business." Including celebrity authors, such as Jane Lynch of Glee fame, who will be at the store on Oct. 9.
Sales of children's books also have been steady, strong. In fact, it has increased some over the past few years, Bubon said. "This market is a little less affected by the digital revolution."
Women & Children First has been most impacted in recent years by Amazon, which uses books as a loss leader, she said. "Their biggest source of sales comes from [the sales of] electronics and appliances; they just don't have to make money on [the sale] of books, so they more and more under-cut publishers, book stores and even price clubs."
The slow, steady growth in sales at Women & Children First also has been seen in its staffing. Christophersen, for instance, was in recent years only working at the store one day a week. But as of about a year ago, she's now there four days per week. "We're back to having both of us here most of the time and being able to afford that," Bubon said.
Although Women & Children First has not been able to expand its staff, it also has not had to lay anyone off.
There are nine employees at the feminist bookstore, including three full-timers: Bubon, Christophersen and Kate Wilson.
"The good news is, during the last three years, about 300 new independent bookstores have opened nationally and it seems that there is a trend that people are starting to take a chance again [to open independent bookstores]," Bubon said. "I think the pendulum is swinging the other way. Whether or not new feminist bookstores will be opened, I don't know."
Bubon said the closing of many chain bookstores locally does not mean the book business is in trouble.
"Barnes & Noble is re-organizing, sensibly. I think they're doing fine," Bubon said. "Borders made so many bad business decisions. The fact that they are bankrupt is largely due to very bad business decisions over years. I don't think Borders closing is some type of death-blow to the book industry. In fact, it's an opportunity for a lot of us independents that have been struggling with Borders stores surrounding us.
"I'm more concerned for communities such as Omaha, where there are no independent bookstores left because of the chain stores, and now with the [chain stores] leaving [those cities], will there be people come back into that market to open [independent] bookstores where there now are no bookstores?"
Women & Children First is one of only nine feminist bookstores open in North America, a number that hit about 110 in the early 1990s. Many closed in the 1990s and early 2000s, Bubon said, as did other niche bookstores.
Women & Children First will hold its inaugural women writers weekend festival Oct. 15-16. The event, open to the public, will be called The Women's Voices Weekend and showcase the works of four very different authors: Achy Obejas, StaceyAnn Chin, Nami Mun and Amy Krouse Rosenthal.
There will be workshops on Oct. 15 at the Swedish Museum and a reception on that Saturday night (location not announced yet). On Oct. 16, at 4 p.m., there will be a ticketed reading of all four also at the Swedish Museum.
The event is funded by the Women's Voices Fund.
"We hope [the event] is something that will be something that helps increase the Fund [in the future]," Bubon said. "I'm very excited about this event; I think it's going to be a really fun weekend.
"There are so many writers in Chicago, including students in the great writing programs at most of the area colleges. We think Chicago has a rich and special environment, so we really want the community of women writers to know each other, help each other, and work together including a mentor-like [program] where older writers can help younger writers. It just seems like Women & Children First should be the locus for that."
What's hot?
Here's a look at some popular books, according to Linda Bubon of Women & Children First:
—Bossypants by Tina Fey
—The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
—A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
—Leatherman: The Legend of Chuck Renslow by Tracy Baim and Owen Keehnen
