It still takes a dreamer to open a bookstore—or in the case of Little City Books, Hoboken’s first independent first-run bookstore since 1995, three dreamers. Even in a city made up of 74 percent college graduates (according to the 2013 American Community Survey), a city that boasts Daniel Pinkwater, Mark Leyner, and Anna Quindlen as current or former residents, opening a bookstore is always a leap of faith.
“It’s a tiny margin business,” admitted Kate Jacobs, one of the three founding partners at Little City, which opened its doors at 100 Bloomfield St. on May 2. “Nobody makes any money running a bookstore, and we’re well aware of that. We want to provide a cultural element to our town and have fun and not go broke.”
One need only trace the tragic ends of Hoboken’s past literary inroads to know the risks. One indie bookstore that opened in 1986, BlackWater Books, lasted for almost a decade until Barnes and Noble moved into retail space at Newark and Washington streets. Within four months, BlackWater had closed. Barnes and Noble lasted longer, but it too closed in 2010, replaced by Staples.
Hoboken has an independent bookstore on central Washington Street, Symposia, but it sells only used books. And if you’re looking for a place to hold a literary reading or class, the pickings are few.
The elements of fission
For many years, Jacobs, a Hoboken-based musician and songwriter, would satisfy her literary cravings by schlepping to the Strand in New York or other indie stores, wondering why Hoboken didn’t have a similar place.
The inkling that became Little City Books was born out of the friendship between Jacobs and Donna Garban, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, who met Jacobs when their kids began attending the same school.
“We often said, as many other people also have said, ‘Boy, Hoboken could really use a good independent bookstore,’ especially after Barnes and Noble left,” recalled Jacobs.
The idea was little more than a pipe dream until Jacobs and Garban were introduced to Emmanuelle Morgen by Elena Skye, a former owner of BlackWater Books. Morgen has strong connections to authors and publishers through her day job as a literary agent at Stonesong.
“She was the third ingredient that created the fission,” said Jacobs.
“We want to provide a cultural element to our town and have fun and not go broke.”—Kate Jacobs
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“This just seemed like the perfect space,” said Jacobs, “it seemed like the right size, the right space, the right location, a really busy corner, a really beautiful corner window.” As it turned out, the building’s owner was Anna Sanchez, another friend of Garban and Jacobs’ through the school.
Though she has given immense support to Little City Books, including donating a brand new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant bathroom, Sanchez is still charging market rate rent.
“It’s a great location, and we’re paying for it, so we need to be really successful,” said Jacobs. “We’re going to be a high energy bookstore.”
Community outreach
That means author readings, lectures, book signings, concerts, and children’s events—“the things that are not profitable directly but they make you a valuable and beloved fixture in a town, so people want you to be there,” said Jacobs.
The Little City space has room for 50 chairs, and hosted its first reading and book signing on May 17, for a children’s book now being performed as a musical at Hoboken’s Mile Square Theatre.
Already, Little City Books has begun drawing on the collective knowledge of Hoboken residents to build the store they want to see. The store’s initial selection of books on music was curated by Glenn Morrow, the founder of Hoboken-based Bar/None Records, and a sheet posted in the store currently asks what books customers think are missing from the shelves.
Little City already caters to Hoboken’s burgeoning stroller set with a robust children’s book section that takes up most of the store’s back room.
“I think that will be a real foundation for us,” said Jacobs.
Looking at the receipts for the first few days of business, Jacobs was heartened to see a wide range of purchases, “from pop psych to Thomas Mann to ‘Make Way for Ducklings’ to ‘Captain Underpants’ to Kierkegaard.”
For anything that isn’t in stock yet, customers can order books from three different wholesale distributors through Little City and typically get their request within one to two business days. And if they become a store member and spend more than $100, customers get $5 towards their next purchase.
Good signs
There are clear signs that Little City is tapping into considerable demand for a bookstore in Hoboken. When the store launched an online fundraising campaign via Indiegogo to raise money for its fixtures earlier this year, it raised over $22,000 from 194 individuals.
Nationwide, the trends for independent bookstores have been promising for years. After bottoming out at 1,651 in the midst of the great recession in 2009, the number of member bookstores registered with the American Booksellers Association has rebounded to 2,094 as of 2014.
Still, the best indication of a genuine market for books in Hoboken is the reaction of residents when they enter Little City for the first time.
“It’s been great these first few days of being open to watch people walk in and say just what I would have said if somebody else had opened a bookstore, which is, ‘Oh, thank you, I can’t believe that we finally have a bookstore,’” said Jacobs.
Mayor Dawn Zimmer counts herself among those enthusiastically welcoming Little City Books. On the store’s opening day, Zimmer showed up to cut the ribbon and ended up buying an urban farming how to guide called “Your Farm in the City.”
“I congratulate Little City Books on their grand opening and wish them luck,” said Zimmer in a statement. “As the first new independent book store in Hoboken in many years, they are a fantastic addition to our vibrant community.”
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.