Tag: Independent Book Stores

Literary Pilgrimages: How Iconic Independent Bookstores are Becoming Travel Destinations

by Jennifer Mark

Image credit: Photo by Pj Accetturo on Unsplash

There is no more satisfying feedback for a blogger than interaction with readers. After I wrote about the Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal a few weeks ago, I received an email from a reader, who goes by the penname of Jennifer Mark. Jennifer noted that “bookstore tourism” is a growing niche travel trend and wondered if I’d be interested in a guest column on the topic, researched and written by her. Until now, I have never run a guest article but this one provided such interesting information and opened so many new doors, that I thought you would be interested to read it. So here is Jennifer’s contribution.

Independent bookstores are the heart of communities since not only do they sell hardbacks and paperbacks, they’ve also become hubs of learning and comfort for many people. Sadly, many independent bookstores are facing financial challenges as low profits and high rents make it tough for these businesses to thrive. This is likely the reason why avid supporters of these establishments are now making it their mission to visit some of the best independent bookstores all over the world as a way to help them stick around for a long time. With bookstore and library tourism becoming one of the hottest travel trends this year, it’s no wonder that an indie bookstore like Livraria Lello in Portugal attracts about 1.2 million visitors annually. What’s more, some of the most iconic independent bookstores, like The Strand in NYC, are always crowded, no matter what day it is. 

In the coming years, we can expect that indie bookstores and book towns will increasingly become more popular not just as a place to shop for unique literary finds, but as places of interest for tourists from all over the world. Here’s why iconic independent bookstores are becoming travel destinations, and some suggestions as to where you can have the best reading and browsing experiences while you’re traveling.

Books, Brews, and Booze

Back in the day, staying at a coffee shop or a hidden corner in a bar was the only way that you could enjoy a beverage while reading a book in a public place. But some independent bookstore owners have found out that making drinks available to their patrons can increase browse time, which can lead to more sales. It is estimated that coffee bookstores could generate annual revenues ranging from $150,000 to $500,000, and this is why indie bookstores are stepping up their game by adding coffeeshops or bars to their business premises to entice tourists to come in, and encourage customers to stay a little longer.

Some of the most loved coffeeshop/indie bookstores in the world include the Beacon Hill Books & Cafe in Boston, which features a lovingly curated collection of good reads and an impressive Afternoon Tea menu. Here, you can get lost in a novel while enjoying a pot of their custom blend tea with a classic cream or apricot-Earl Grey scone, or perhaps a slice of Spring Carrot Cake. In Sydney, on Bondi Beach, there’s the Gertrude & Alice Bookstore and Coffee Shop, which has a stockpile of more than 40,000 second-hand books. This establishment has a cafe menu where you can choose savory eats or sweet treats, so try their salmon breakfast roll or coconut and raspberry bread with an iced latte or a pot of Moroccan mint tea.

Meanwhile, those who prefer to have a glass of wine or a cold beer after browsing or while reading can check out indie bookstore bars, which are becoming must-visit destinations for tourists who are constantly on the hunt for unique travel and adventure experiences. If you love art, wine, and books, definitely make plans to visit Bibliotheque, a family-owned bookstore, bar, and cafe in New York’s SoHo district. They have a collection of nearly 10,000 books, and a gorgeous bar area decorated with works from Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, and other iconic artists. Choose from among their extensive wine collection which includes sparkling, white, orange, red, and rose wines, or have a wine-based cocktail if you want something a little different. If you’re in Maryland, drop by The Buzzed Word, which features a collection of diverse books, a natural wine shop, and a bar. Order a glass of vino to enjoy while reading in one of their comfy chairs, or get a bottle to go.

Unusual Set-ups and Amazing Locations

Some of the most interesting indie bookstores can be found in unusual places, which is why they’re considered to be tourist attractions. Take for instance Word on the Water, a used bookshop that’s situated on a 1920s Dutch barge behind King’s Cross in London. The novel setting makes it an enjoyable place for book shopping, and on certain days, customers are treated to live jazz music and poetry readings. While you’re in England, make sure to visit Barter Books, a used bookstore built inside a Victorian train station. You can sell books for in-store credit, then sit down for a good read while enjoying some good food from their station buffet.

For an experience you’ll never forget, plan on visiting a booktown. These destinations also draw in huge tourist crowds since they serve as one-stop shops for people who want to find rare or vintage books at low prices. Check out the Jimbocho Book Town in Tokyo and get lost browsing in the area, which boasts nearly 400 independent bookstores. Don’t forget to wear comfy shoes and bring a huge bag for your haul. If you’re traveling to Argentina, stop by the Parque Rivadavia Book Market, a booktown where you can find used and new books, comics, records, and other antique items.

Independent bookstores are the “it” travel destinations for many tourists. Visit the establishments and booktowns mentioned above to find good reads, enjoy delicious food and drinks, and have the time of your life while you’re on holiday.

© Jennifer Mark, 2025.

Celebrate Canadian Independent Bookstore Day

Photo: Author (one of my several overcrowded book cases)

Today, April 26, is Canadian Independent Bookstore Day (CIBD). Independent bookstores in all countries, especially in a country as geographically dispersed as Canada, form a community based network allowing readers of all ages to access the wonder of the written word, often beautifully illustrated. Whether you are Tofino, Whistler, or Victoria BC, Whitehorse in the Yukon, downtown Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg or Montreal, Nova Scotia’s south shore or Tors Cove, NL, and everywhere else in between, there is an independent bookstore for you offering everything from novels, cookbooks, children’s stories, history, travel…and so on. Some even have copies of my book, In Defence of Copyright! Of course, there is also Amazon and, in Canada, Indigo, but the uniqueness of each independent bookstore is what I like. Wherever I go, I always seek one out. It can tell you a lot about the town you are visiting. If you want to find the closest independent bookstore, just type in the postal code of wherever you are in Canada (here), and you will get a full listing.

Indie bookstores are facing many challenges these days, not the least of which is the ongoing tariff war launched by the Trump Administration against the world, including islands populated exclusively by penguins. Given the close economic integration between Canada and the US, it is not surprising that Canadian bookstores import a fair amount of their stock from the US. In fact, even books by Canadian authors are often either printed, or stored and distributed from US locations because of economics. The major publishing houses have concentrated their North American distribution hubs in the US. More that 80% of books published in Canada are published by foreign-owned firms (not all American). For example, Penguin Random House is owned by Bertelsmann, a German conglomerate. Macmillan is also German owned; Harper Collins and Simon & Schuster are US owned.

Most Canadian publishers and printers operate on a small scale. Sutherland House, an Indie Canadian publisher, reports that in 2024, sales by Canadian owned publishers totalled $56 million, or just 5% of the Canadian market. However, in Quebec it is a different story as Canadian owned French language publishers have 54% of the market. Considering that Quebec has about a quarter of Canada’s population and economic activity, this suggests that the sales of Canadian published works in the rest of Canada must be well below five percent.

While Canadian authors and publishers (so called “CanLit”) are important to independent bookstores in Canada (and Indie bookstores play an important part in the promotion of local authors and CanLit), their bread and butter is still any book that customers are prepared to buy, regardless of the nationality of the author, the genre, or where it is published. When Donald Trump invoked the 1970s-era International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the pretext to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian (and Mexican) products exported to the United States, regardless of commitments the US had made to both countries under the USMCA (the “new NAFTA”), Canadian publishers were delighted to find out that the IEEPA had a carve out for “information or informational materials”. This included “publications”, as I wrote about here. (Donald Trump’s Tariff Threats: Their Potential Impact on Canada’s Cultural Industries). Not that many Canadian publishers ship to the US, but some, including specialized printers, do so. As I noted above, it’s an integrated North American market.

But if the IEEPA exception provided a tariff respite with respect to the export of Canadian published materials to the US, it is the threat of Canadian counter-tariffs on US products coming into Canada that is of greatest concern to Canadian independent booksellers. The addition of a 25% counter-tariff on their book imports from the US would undermine profit margins and require a price increase, further threatening sales at an economically challenging time for most consumers. Happily, so far, the threat of Canadian counter tariffs has been suspended after Donald Trump blinked and allowed all Canadian (and Mexican) products that qualify for USMCA/CUSMA coverage to continue to be tariff exempt, as per the terms of the Agreement.

This exemption was supposed to end on April 2, but as is usual with Trump, he changed his mind at the last minute. The relief from US import duties (at least insofar as USMCA/CUSMA compliant products are concerned, except for steel and aluminum) has been extended without a fixed end date, but as with so much concerning Donald Trump it could be ended on a whim. If that happens, Canada will move to activate the counter tariffs it was preparing to impose on April 2. Books were on that list, although the Canadian Federation of Independent Booksellers and Indigo Books joined hands to lobby against the inclusion of books as part of Canada’s retaliation. It is not just bookstores that have warned against collateral damage to small, independent Canadian business from the imposition of counter tariffs on books imported from the US, but also librarians. The Ottawa Public Library estimated that the imposition of Canadian tariffs could result in it acquiring 33,000 fewer items for its collection.

The booksellers are from being out of the woods yet. They might get an exemption or a duty remission if Canada imposes tariffs. Then again, Canada might not impose tariffs, as it depends on what actions Donald Trump takes. Even if the book trade remains tariff free, the forecast recession in both Canada, the US, and elsewhere as a result of Trump’s unilateral tariff barriers is likely to hurt bookstores, as for most consumers buying a book is a discretionary purchase.

Let’s hope the worst doesn’t happen and that, at the end of the day, some reason and economic logic will prevail. In the meantime, if you haven’t seen it, I recommend a blog I wrote earlier this month on my visit to one of the most magical bookstores in the world, Livraria Lello, in Porto, Portugal.

(c) Hugh Stephens, 2025.

Here is the link to “The Resilience of Independent Bookstores (My Visit to Livraria Lello, Porto)“

The Resilience of Independent Bookstores (My Visit to Livraria Lello, Porto)

Photo: Author

Much has been written about the decline or even the imminent demise of independent bookstores, yet most of them continue to survive, even thrive. In the same vein as the comment famously attributed to Mark Twain (“the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”), so too have independent bookstores survived the onslaught of online shopping and mass merchandising. The Canadian Independent Booksellers Association has almost 200 members and there are an estimated 300 independent bookstores across the country. The US has around 2600. Some are well known, especially in the cities in which they are based, such as Powell’s Books in Portland, OR, City of Lights Books in San Francisco or Strand Books in NYC. In Canada, there is Munro’s in Victoria, BC, probably the most famous in the country.  Internationally there is Shakespeare and Company in Paris, Foyles or Daunts in London and Livraria Lello, the “Harry Potter” bookstore in Porto, Portugal.

Lello was the first destination for me and my wife last month when we visited that coastal city, the home of port wine. In fact, we went there even before touring the port “lodges” on the opposite bank of the Douro River, in Gaia. Lello has become a tourist destination in its own right, largely due to its association with JK Rowling and Harry Potter. When we arrived, there was a long queue outside and various roped off channels with identified time slots.

Photo: Author

Lello has discovered a whole new revenue stream, paid admission. We were tempted to walk on and find somewhere for lunch, but having come this far, I had to figure out how to get entry. It wasn’t that hard; you need to go online and book a slot, at a cost of €10 per person, redeemable against a book purchase. That is the basic (“silver”) option. Then there is the “gold” option at €15.95 that includes a book from their exclusive imprint, “The Collection”, or if you really want to splurge there is the “platinum” version at €50 per person. That will give you a voucher for book purchases, access to the “Gemma Room” and priority entry. “The Collection” is Lello’s offering of public domain classic imprints (Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Tolstoy, Saint-Exupery, JM Barrie, etc.) The “Gemma Room” is the space where Livraria Lello keeps its self-described “most precious jewels”, rare books, manuscripts, first editions, luxury books etc. How much you want to spend depends on how much of a book aficionado you are. We selected “silver” and after a short wait, were inside, all set to explore the wonders of Lello.

The ability to charge an entry fee to prospective customers who may not even buy a book or bookmark is an interesting additional revenue stream that many bookstores would die for. But it is not unreasonable when you consider that Lello is part bookstore, part museum. It has been charging for entry since 2015 and is now listed in all the guidebooks along with Porto’s other many attractions.

Photo: Author

It is truly spectacular and aptly deserves, in my view, the description of “world’s most beautiful bookstore”. As you can see from the photos, it has a Hogwarts like-atmosphere, and it is the tenuous connection with JK Rowling that has really put it on the map, even though its history goes back to 1906 in its present location. Rowling lived in Porto for almost two years (1991-93) and wrote the first three chapters of the first Potter book, the Sorcerer’s Stone while there. According to one account, she visited Lello in 1991, spent several hours there and bought a book. Surely she must have spent more time there than that, as she was an English teacher and Lello even in the 1990s was a well known entity. Lello has acknowledged the connection and has ensured there are plenty of Harry Potter books to buy.

Photo: Author

The history of Lello is a story worth telling quite aside from any modern Harry Potter connections. It traces its origins to other bookstores in the city, dating back to 1869. After several changes of ownership, the Lello brothers commissioned the design and building of the current structure, opening in 1906 in its present location on Rua das Carmelitas, a stone’s throw from Porto University. It was one of the first buildings in the city built with reinforced concrete and the iconic staircase is, in fact, cast from concrete although you would never know if from the rich wood finish. The ceiling is a stained glass window by a Dutch artist Samuel Van Krieken, featuring the motto “Decus in Labore” (Dignity in Work). The finishings are in painted plaster. The exterior façade is neo-Gothic.

Photo: Author

In addition to the bookstore itself, Lello supports the Livraria Lello Foundation, dedicated to the promotion of literacy. It has acquired the Monastery of Leca do Balio, located a few kilometers north of Porto, and has is developing it as a cultural centre.

The history and scale of the Lello operation is something that most independent bookstores can only dream of, but it illustrates well the contribution that these institutions make nationally, even internationally, as well as in their local communities. Independent bookstores add vitality and a window on the world. Often they are gathering places and host book circles, book readings and other literary activities. They have managed to carve out a niche in the market despite the omnipresence of Amazon and larger chain book outlets. Most don’t have the history or the cachet of Lello, but they are part of a proud fraternity. Long may they thrive.

© Hugh Stephens, 2025. All Rights Reserved

As you can plainly see, I am not a professional photographer. If you want a better view of Livraria Lello than I have provided with my cellphone snaps, click here.