Bookstore1Sarasota
The Libreria. Image courtesy of the bookstore.
Sarasota, Florida is situated directly on the Gulf of Mexico, the state’s western coast, featuring palm tree-lined streets and picturesque ocean views. Walk from the waterfront down Ringling Boulevard (the city once played annual winter home to the famed circus) and turn left on Palm Avenue to find another treasure entirely: the former Orange Blossom Hotel, one of the few historic buildings left in the ever-expanding city. On its ground floor lives a small, tawny-colored storefront, featuring large picture windows, lightwood floors, and the perpetual smell of new books; a space that is quiet in the colder seasons, but bustling with crowds when it hosts big names like Stephen King and Jerry Springer.
Bookstore1Sarasota—the county’s only independent bookstore—opened a decade ago. Owner Georgia Court had moved to Sarasota in 2010, in part because of her attraction to a bookstore in town called Sarasota News and Books. However, soon after Court’s move, the store went out of business, breaking her heart.
Katia, shelving. Image courtesy of the bookstore.
“Georgia felt that every town should have a really good independent bookstore, and she was upset that where she had just moved to, didn’t,” says Andrea Ginsky, Bookstore1’s Web Editor/Public Relations Manager. “She views them as critical: having a place for people to gather, a place for people to find books, a place where people can talk about books. That’s all really important to her.”
Court managed to secure a small storefront, up the street from Bookstore1’s current location, and lure a couple of former employees—David and Priscilla—from Sarasota News and Books to join her. “She had never had a bookstore or been in a retail business, so they helped her get set up, and both continued to work for the store for quite a while,” Ginsky says.
Soon enough, Bookstore1 was up and running.
About five years later, Ginsky joined the team, first as a part-time bookseller, before taking over the website, publicity, and PR elements of the business, in addition to running social media and writing the weekly newsletter email blast. “I have a great little job, the perfect gig for a retired librarian,” she says. “I love it. It’s fun. I’ve been a book nerd forever, it’s what I’ve done for the past twenty-five years. I feel like I just fell into the right place. You can’t ask for anything better.”
Stephen King signing. Image courtesy of the bookstore.
As the store expanded, it eventually moved into its current location. “It was close enough that we had help from customers and carts,” Ginsky remembers. “We didn’t hire a mover, we just walked.” Bookstore1 quickly then became what Ginsky describes as “your classic downtown indie bookstore,” not only offering superb book recommendations from considerate booksellers, but also hosting events more intimately organized than those offered at the local Barnes and Noble. Community conversations where local dignitaries—i.e. the city manager, city planner, or head of the library system—held question and answer sessions; the weekly Mysteries to Die For book club; and Sunday afternoon poetry salons, curated by Court, of local aspiring poets. Bookstore1’s booksellers also take their passion for books out into the community, with some doing weekly book talks on the local TV station, as well as reviewing titles for SRQ Magazine.
The pandemic, however, presented Bookstore1 with new challenges. “When he had to close, we actually weren’t that prepared for going to an online environment of selling books,” Ginsky says. “We weren’t happy with our online store. We did a lot of work the first few months. We redid our website, and I really started to ramp up our social media presence.” Bookstore1 also began to try new things, such as offering side-door pick-up options, weekly Sunday specials on staff picks, and even hosting a podcast. They also moved all events and book clubs to Zoom, an admittedly less lucrative option than in-person gatherings, but one the team is still considering making a permanent fixture going forward.
Stephen King signing. Image courtesy of the bookstore.
Sarasota’s population has also expanded greatly over the past year, a trend Ginsky has witnessed before. “I’ve lived here for almost forty-five years and the town has gone through several growth spurts,” she says. It’s part of the reason Sarasota doesn’t have a lot of history, because it’s always wanting to grow. “But with the pandemic,” Ginsky adds, “people have been moving out of the cities, and we’re one of the places they’ve been going. I’d say a quarter to a third of the people who walk in the store tell us that they’ve just moved here.”
This, combined with Florida’s decision to reopen earlier than many other parts of the country, has been personally challenging for Ginsky. “It’s just crazy,” she says. “Things like school boards getting their salaries docked because they want kids to be safe and wear masks. That’s government in Florida. It’s really nuts. In some ways we wish Florida was more restrictive and things weren’t as terrible as they are now.” However, the vacation traffic of those drawn to the wide openness of the state’s beaches and restaurants has objectively been good for business. “Once the store reopened, we’ve been really busy,” Ginsky says—so busy, in fact, that June and July were two of the best months Bookstore1 has ever had.
“I think we feel optimistic,” Ginsky adds, when thinking about Bookstore1 heading into the next six months. “I’m not sure how August looked and September is always the slowest month in Florida, but we’re expecting to have a really good holiday season.” She also feels positive about the state of their online store, as well as the new ability to sell digital gift cards.
Crowd lining up for Stephen King. Image courtesy of the bookstore.
Most excitingly, Bookstore1 is preparing for yet another move into a new, mixed-use building called The Mark, which will also house restaurants and condominiums—but supply-chain issues have slowed down the process. Buildings permits were only just issued at the beginning of this month. “We’re in a little bit of a not uncomfortable uncertainty,” Ginsky explains. “If it looks like we can get in by November, we’ll move to the new store. If it’s looking like it’s really going to start to butt against the holidays, then we’ll probably wait and stay where we are and move afterward. But we have a lot to look forward to.” The move won’t be far—The Mark is only around the corner from Bookstore1’s current location—but the boxes will have to go uphill. To this Ginksy laughs, and says, “This time, I hope Georgia hires a mover.”
Staff picks. Image courtesy of the bookstore.
Recommendations from the Booksellers
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
This Booker Prize Longlist Nominee, Good Morning America Book Club Pick, and New York Times Best Seller was also a quadruple staff pick at Bookstore1. Nobel laureate Ishiguro introduces readers to Klara, a highly observational Artificial Friend who astutely watches everyone passing in and out of a store, hopeful that one day she will be taken home by a customer. “It’s kind of a continuation of Never Let Me Go,” explains Ginsky, who found Klara to be an interesting character. “The whole novel just really makes you think. You’re so sympathetic to her and she’s not real, she’s a robot.”
Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
Ginsky read this book twice for The Morning News Camp Tournament of Books this summer. It tells the story of Katharina Kepler, mother of the renowned Imperial Mathematician, who is accused of being a witch in her tiny German town, and then expands to explore how gossip spreads and the ways in which people can generally be misjudged. “My husband is a mathematician, and he knew much more about Kepler than I did,” Ginsky says of reading the novel with him. “We had some interesting discussions, and I learned more about how the planets revolved around the sun than I ever knew before. I’m not usually a historical fiction reader but I thought this was just great.”
A Big Storm Knocked It Over by Laurie Colwin
The fiction and food writer’s last novel explored a young couple living in Manhattan, and the ways their lives are turned upside-down after learning the woman is pregnant. “Colwin’s not a cult writer necessarily, but she’s under-read,” Ginksy said. “People who love her love her. And I thought this was the sweetest read. It was one of those books where you read it and then you go, oh, that was just so fun!” For those who enjoy all the food elements of the book, Ginsky also recommends Colwin’s memoir Home Cooking, which is chock-full of recipes, including a particularly tasty one for coleslaw.
Bookstore window. Image courtesy of the store.
