Village Preservation's video: Neighborhood Bookstores in the Age of Amazon

The pandemic has done neighborhood businesses no favors, both keeping customers from the streets and intensifying the shift toward online shopping. This crisis has exacerbated longstanding concerns about the loss of beloved bookshops, cafés, clothing stores, bakeries, and other mom-and-pops that contribute to their communities far more than the merchandise and services they sell. And yet, amidst all the talk of a retail apocalypse, hopeful stories persist — local cornerstones that endure; unique new businesses that open their doors, inspired by fresh ideas. Today, we will hear from three bookstores, some decades old, some months old, that have greatly enriched our neighborhoods and managed to thrive in the age of Amazon or are making a bet that they will: Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books, Book Club Bar, and Printed Matter.