Oxford Exchange Bookshop The race for finding the right mix to compete in the ever changing publishing / bookselling world of the 21st century continues as both Rizzoli and Phaidon make moves to extend their reach. Rizzoli has announced that it is partnering with the upscale Tampa, Florida bookshop the Oxford Exchange. The new "Studio" site will occupy half of the shop's floor space and feature only Rizzoli publications. As the online space expands and the retail avenues shrink it becomes imperative for publishers like Rizzoli to find ways for people to interact physically with their books. Look for more of these...
Reinventing the Bookshop: Four architecture and design firms “create the bookshop of their dreams”
intelligent life magazine asked 4 companies to "create the bookshop of their dreams." Each were given the same instructions: to design a general-interest bookshop, selling fiction, non-fiction and e-books, in store and online, on a typical European high-street site, with two floors of 1,000 square feet each. The budget was £100,000—modest, we knew, but independent booksellers aren’t minted and that figure was ring-fenced for the fit-out; they could assume there would be further funds for training staff or running events. The four participants were Gensler, 20.20 , Burdifilek and Coffey Architects. Here are the sketches and some of the highlights of...
A Look at the New Home of St. Mark’s Bookshop
After months and months of tumult St. Mark's Book Shop has landed in its home and it's a beauty. The space, designed by Clouds Architecture Office, will give St. Mark's a fighting chance as it navigates the new book landscape. From the project listing on Architizer: The perimeter of the space is wrapped with full height shelving, freeing up the interior as a flexible use space. Variously stacked display units provide table display space while doubling as informal loose seating for readings and events. A windowed office space is created by pinching and pulling the shelves in towards the center of the...
The End of an Era: On the Closing of Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers
When I approached Mark Wessel in late 1992 with the idea of opening up a bookshop little did I know the profound effect it would have on my life and the impact it would have on the Seattle book community and beyond. Now some 20+ years after we opened the shop will close its doors. All good things come to an end. The end of the road for Wessel & Lieberman does not alter the fact that I remain bullish on books and bookshops. The wear and tear of nearly twenty years of running a bookshop in an urban core takes...
Amazon vs. The Big 5: Infographic
Talk about an elephant in the room. via Infographic Plaza