Many factors make independent bookstores worthy of community support, one of which is their dedication to creating an environment where book lovers can get together and have conversations and debates about books. For the small teams running independents in South Africa, it is all about curating a magical and intimate experience that adds to the pleasure of visiting a bookstore.
Nestled between restaurants, bars, and an antique store, a custom black and white mosaic entryway welcomes customers into a sleek bookstore in the heart of the bustling town of Stellenbosch. The simply named bookstore, Stellenbosch Books, is one of the only independent bookstores in the area and has become a local favorite since its opening in August 2020.
“The place where we are has been a bookstore since the 1950’s and when Exclusive Books, who were there previously, didn’t make it through lockdown, we knew we needed to preserve the space,” says Sarah Emery, manager at Stellenbosch Books.
Although not nearly operating at the same capacity as chain bookstores like Bargain Books and Exclusive Books, independent bookstores in the country have steadily popped up in most major cities and towns. Some, like LoveBooks in Johannesburg, have grabbed international attention when it appeared in The New York Times’s feature on must-visit places in Melville where the bookstore is located. For Kate Rogan, the owner, this was one of the standout moments since the bookstore opened in 2009.
The magic and pleasure of a bookstore
“Most people warned me against [opening a bookstore],” says Rogan, who spent a number of years in the publishing industry before opening LoveBooks. It takes hard work to make a success in the book trading industry and it is often very difficult to make money due to low profit margins and small book-buying public, explains Rogan.
“Stock levels are [another] common problem for many independents because we can’t always afford to buy the kind of piles that chains can,” says Rogan. ‘Indies’ are therefore heavily reliant on an open-minded local community to keep them afloat, she says. “[While] you might not always find exactly what you were looking for at an independent, you might also find something that you didn’t expect. That’s part of the magic and pleasure of coming to a bookstore,” explains Rogan.
“Naturally, independent books have a more creative curation because you have to be that much more intelligent and ruthless with your buying power,” says Emery. However, this means that the curators are paying much more attention to the books they buy which gives shopping at an independent bookstore a very personal feel, she explains.
Rogan and Emery’s sentiments are echoed by Mervyn Sloman, owner of The Book Lounge in Cape Town. “If you are browsing in-store, through the display table, you can be surprised by something that catches your eye and that you didn’t know about before,” says Sloman. Sloman reckons that this is a characteristic of physical bookstores that many people keep appreciating and plays a big role in their survival.
While it rings true that this kind of experience can be simulated in any bookstore, independent or chain, both Sloman and Rogan argue for the importance of independents’ customer service. “We know our customers by name and we often become friends,” says Rogan. “[Independent bookstores] are part of the local community in a way that chains simply cannot be,” she says.
“Independent bookstores cultivate a welcoming space where it feels like you are gathered around people who actually care about books and reading,” says Robyn Stark, a frequent independent bookstore goer.
A bookstore is a place for ideas, debates, and discussions, says Sloman. “It’s easier for indies to play that role and to create that space [because] we don’t have the pressure of a corporate structure in terms of what we can and can’t do,” he explains.
Stark argues that people should continue supporting locally owned businesses like independent bookstores. “They need it more,” she says. Similarly, Rogan and her team are passionate about supporting local writing and authors and empowering them by stocking their work. “A lot of [local] authors don’t get that kind of support from the big chains who push the mass market titles,” she says. Supporting local makes a big and important difference, no matter in what way you do it, says Rogan.
‘A bloody nightmare’
For many independent bookstores, community reach and support are often increased through events like book launches and poetry readings held at the store, says Sloman. Additionally, these events play an important role in fostering the identity of the store and how it is perceived by the community, he explains.
“When we could still do a lot of events here, [it] allowed us to understand the bookstore in a new way and it became a part of our identity,” he says. For The Book Lounge team, events transformed the bookstore from a retail environment into a space where conversations about books, poetry, and politics could happen.
The nature of the Covid-19 pandemic has forced Sloman and his team to halt events for the time being. “It’s a part of the reason why Covid-19 has been such a bloody nightmare for us,” he says, expressing his wishes that The Book Lounge would be able to host events again soon.
At Stellenbosch Books, which opened during a period of lockdown, the pandemic meant that the store had to completely rethink how they wanted to operate, says Emery. “Although an online presence wasn’t as important to us as a physical presence, we had to create an online community so that we could keep building relationships with our customers,” she explains. However, the Stellenbosch Books team are very happy with the student and local support that they have received since.
Charm vs. Chain
Other than pandemic restrictions and fluctuating stock, it seems like there isn’t much that independent bookstores can’t survive. Even the increase in digital book offerings from big players such as Amazon and its ever-popular Kindle have not managed to beat them. “We saw in the [local & international] trade that digital book sales were steadily increasing, which took a chunk [of revenue] out of the book market. And then it hit a plateau,” according to Sloman. He says that since then, the proportion of sales of digital to physical books haven’t increased.
“It’s quite interesting that we were not as impacted by the digital world as the CD and DVD industries,” says Rogan. “We were expecting to die out, like those stores, but it has been more than a decade now and we are still here. I think it’s because people have a real and proper connection with bookstores,” she explains.
For Sloman, it is a case of being conscious not only about where you spend your money but also about who. “The people who have money to spend have to think about the businesses in their lives that they would like to keep alive and sort of take responsibility for that and prioritize spending money there,” he says.
Emery agrees. “At an independent bookstore you can put a face to the person who you are supporting with your purchase,” she says.
