Tucson wrote the book on independent bookstores | Books

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Trudy Mills, who bought Antigone Books with Kate Randall in 1986, remembers that feeling.

“Antigone has always been a feminist bookstore, so we were lucky to have quite a loyal customer base,” she said. “Nevertheless, we had expanded our portfolio. We definitely felt the pressure. Our side sales for things like cards and gifts probably kept us there for a while. “

Mills said the tide finally turned in the 2010s. “Who knows exactly why,” she admitted. “Maybe people are tired of staring at screens all day. Maybe their kindles were starting to fail. Perhaps they were starting to feel nostalgic about the feeling of a book in their hands. Whatever it was, we started selling books again. “

It helped that Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Nobel seemed busy killing each other.

“A great book war was raging over our heads,” said Mills. “We were able to stay out of the line of fire for a while.”

In hindsight, however, the biggest difference was that Antigone was meeting young adults again. In fact, more than ever. Students. Young professionals. Young mothers. More and more young men.

A culture change was underway, a rising tide that boosted independent booksellers across the country. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of independent bookstores in the United States rose 35% to nearly 2,000 stores.

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