Capitol Hill Books’ 2023 State of the Bookstore Address
The state of the bookstore is strong, and getting stronger.
The past few years have not been easy for Capitol Hill Books. When the pandemic hit in 2020, we made the tough decision to close our doors to the general public until a vaccine became available due to the impossibility of social distancing in the tight quarters of our humble establishment. It sucked, but it felt like the responsible thing to do.
To make enough cash to provide staff with paychecks and health insurance, we switched to a primarily online business model overnight, offering curated grab bags based on customers’ particular predilections. We shipped thousands of orders all over the country with only a few hiccups here and there. On weekends, we sold books outside in front of our store in all sorts of weather. This also sucked. At the same time, we allowed people to schedule browsing appointments so they could have the shop all to themselves without fear of having to social distance in a tight space. In the meantime, since the store was closed, we even recorded an album in it.
Shockingly, many of the nattering nabobs of negativism on Twitter had their doubts.
But, folks, to make a long story short – it worked.
We made it through the toughest times, and when Capitol Hill Books re-opened to the general public in June 2021, sales started rocking like never before. 2021 ended up being our best year on record. 2022 was even better.
It wasn’t luck. Our staff worked their asses off to make it happen. When you sign up to work at a used bookstore, you probably envision sitting behind the front desk with a cozy novel or shelving leather-bound copies of Jane Austen as Sufjan Stevens whispersings a melancholy little tune in the background. Instead, we were hauling boxes of books outside every weekend and standing in the elements hawking paperbacks in the freezing cold and blazing heat.
Thankfully, those days seem to be largely behind us now, but it’s still too soon to don our Panglossian shades, kick back, and let the good times roll. This may be the best of all possible worlds, but it’s still fair to say it’s less than perfect. Philistines have seized control of school boards and are banning books left and right. Right-wing politicians are prohibiting the study of African-American history and anything remotely related to lgbtq+ identity. Amazon claims their massive new fleet of delivery drones will blot out the sun, to which I say: then we will fight in the shade!
Some believe that independent bookstores are but relics of a bygone era, like typewriters, land-line phones, or democracy. But I am here to tell you that we are just getting started. Big things are coming in 2023 and beyond.
God bless the readers.
God bless the writers.
And God bless the independent bookstores of this fair land.
I'm a shill just jeering at you so you can go off-script and say something even more witty ...
Thanks for the post and letting newbies in on your pandemic adventures - I wish other local bookstores put out similar stories of surviving the twin onslaughts of Amazon and COVID. I hope to be DC in early March for a conference and will stop in to take a look / though my wife my limit my purchases since my bookcases are overflowing