Strand Bookstore

Strand Bookstore

Industry	Specialty retail
Founded	1927 (1927)
Founder	Ben Bass
Headquarters	New York City, United States
Number of locations	1 store, 1 kiosk
Area served	New York metropolitan area
Products	New, used and rare books
Owner	Fred Bass, Nancy Bass Wyden
Number of employees	about 240
Website	http://www.strandbooks.com/

The Strand Bookstore is an independent bookstore located at 828 Broadway, at the corner of East 12th Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, two blocks south of Union Square. In addition to the main location, the store's Central Park kiosk is open on fair weather days at the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 60th Street. The company's slogan is "18 Miles Of Books", as featured on its stickers, T-shirts, and other merchandise. In 2016, The New York Times called The Strand "the undisputed king of the city’s independent bookstores."

History and description

The Strand, which was named after the street in London, was opened by Benjamin Bass in 1927 on nearby Fourth Avenue, which had at the time 48 bookstores, in what was known as "Book Row", which was established as early as 1890, and which started to disappear around the 1930s and again in the 1950s, due to rent increases. Bass's son Fred took over the business in 1956 and the next year moved the store to the present location at the corner of East 12th Street and Broadway. Fred's daughter Nancy Bass Wyden – who is married to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon – is co-owner of the store. The store occupies three and a half floors, using half a floor for offices and one additional floor as warehouse space. As of June 2017, the store had around 2.5 million books,

The Strand's basement holds its collection of review copies of recently published books

Besides the main store and Central Park kiosk, an additional location, the "Strand Book Annex", opened in the 1980s and was originally located on Front Street in the South Street Seaport complex. It moved in 1996 to Fulton and Gold Streets in the Financial District, but finally closed on September 22, 2008 due to rent increases.

The Strand is a family-owned business with more than 200 employees. Many Lower East Side artists have worked at the store, including two rock musicians of the 1970s: Patti Smith – who claimed not to have liked the experience because it "wasn't very friendly" – and Tom Verlaine, who was fond of the discount book carts sitting outside the store,

The Strand has had a unionized workforce for over 35 years. On April 5, 2012, unionized workers at the store rejected a new contract. Further talks were planned between the two parties. On June 15, 2012, workers ratified a new contract.

As of June 2017, the oldest book for sale in the Strand is an edition of Magna Moralia, which is priced at $4,500. The most expensive book is a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses at $38,000.

In popular culture

• The Strand has been featured in films such as Six Degrees of Separation, Julie & Julia and Remember Me, starring Robert Pattinson, who played a Strand employee.
• The Strand can be seen from the room of Professor Wutheridge in The Bishop's Wife (1948).
• The Strand is featured in the third episode of the miniseries Flesh and Bone.
• The band Steely Dan "name-checks" the Strand in their song "What A Shame About Me" from the album Two Against Nature.
• Joyce Carol Oates' short story, "Three Girls", takes place at the Strand.
• The Strand was referenced on Gilmore Girls in the season four episode "Ballrooms and Biscotti", when Rory and Lorelai discuss a daytrip to New York City, before Rory starts college.
• The Strand was a backdrop for part of the novel Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn.
• The Strand was featured on the BBC television series Absolutely Fabulous in the 2002 Christmas Special "Gay".

References

Notes

External links

• Official website
• In Depth tour of Strand Bookstore, September 5, 2004