Catherine Bohne, owner of the Community Bookstore in Park Slope, was upset.
On several weekends, a street vendor selling used books set up a large sidewalk shop "pretty much in front of the bookstore." She wasn't sure what to do and spoke to several local merchants who told her that it's actually illegal to do that but calling 311 and 911 didn't seem to help. "911 pretty much laughed at me," she told me.
That's when she had the inspired idea to reach out to her large mailing list. "The bookstore has over 1700 really good friends — maybe one of you has
an idea?" she wrote in an email.
In her friendly prose, Catherine explained the problem: "While the bookstore is doing quite well (extraordinarily, considering
the economy!), weekend sales are crucial, and having this guy on our
doorstep is not helping, and really quite upsetting…considering that
we spend almost $90,000 a year for the privilege of doing business
where we are, him glomming on for free seems grossly unfair . . . ."
Not surprisingly Catherine received almost 100 responses from customers. Many shared her anger. Quite a few came out to tell the street vendor in no uncertain terms to find another place to sell his books. By the end of Sunday, it was clear that the street vendor would not be coming back. Catherine told me that he looked pretty dispirited after a day of being berated by the bookstore's community.
There is plenty of room in Park Slope for a street vendor to set up shop.It is unnecessary for any one of them to infringe on the “territory” of a bricksandmortar,rentpaying, taxpaying 24/7, 365 days a year merchant who is a vital contributing member of the community.
This particularly applies to Catherine and her perfectly named COMMUNITY Book Store
Many local authors would have a better chance of having their books sold by the sidewalk vendor than the “Community” Bookstore and with a lot less attitude. (Oh, sorry, you’re a “community” business and not Barnes & Noble, so everything you do is inherently more pure.)
Wow, what a bunch of bullsh*t! First off, this guy is not Hasen Costun. He’s the guy who used to be set up by Connecticut Muffin, no idea why he moved from there. Second, Catherine busts her ass to keep the bookstore going. She’s not raking in the dough and managing the store from afar.
Not once in her email did she ask anyone to “berate” the bookseller, she only asked for suggestions to a difficult situation. I don’t think anyone here would be happy with someone encroaching on their business. It was no problem when he was a block and a half away but he was 1 storefront away from the bookstore. Do any of you think Barnes and Noble would allow this to happen? I don’t and I’m pretty sure this book seller wouldn’t have even tried to set up near them.
Catherine has done a lot for the community and it’s merchants. She’s been in the neighborhood for years and rarely turns down someone in need. What happened to supporting local businesses? Have you all decided it needed to be taken to the next level? Screw the local stores in favor of “local” street vendors because they have the nerve to work hard and sacrifice to pay for the privilege of owning a business.
This is pathetic. The bookstore holds countless free events, employs local people and really supports the community. Some guy no one knows from who knows where (he drives here) sets up shop 2 days a week, supporting only himself and you all are falling over each other to defend him.
Have all these loyal customers made a vow to stop ordering from Amazon, and to instead buy their books from the Community Bookstore rather than sending their money to Seattle? That seems more productive than harassing a street vendor, especially since (as others have pointed out) his sales are much more likely to be impulse purchases. Does the bookstore owner fear competition from stoop sales and the library?
Community Bookstore has officially seen the last of my business.
Was it this guy?
http://hereisparkslope.blogspot.com/2009/03/hasen-costun-sidewalk-bookseller.html
Because if so, that’s incredibly sad.
Catherine shouldn’t have let a sidewalk used book vendor upset her so much. Considering how few there are out there, it’s lame to make trouble for one of them without some real reason. I’d be more likely to go into a bookstore that had a used book vendor nearby. It starts to turn the area into a book ‘hotspot’, where I’m more likely to go because it increases my chances for productive browsing. The nice thing about having these guys is that if they don’t have what you’re looking for, your interest is still there and – conveniently enough – there’s a bookstore right there that might have it.
The people who prefer used books are more likely the people who are more likely to use amazon, abebooks or ebay before stepping into a bricks-and-mortar place (unless it happens to be a used bookstore).
And being berated all day would make anyone feel dispirited. Perhaps those who berate others should feel mean-spirited.
911 should be reserved for emergencies. 311 is the appropriate number to call.
Well, you know, the poor guy isn’t the most venal throat-cutter out there. He is probably someone who, like many people in Brooklyn, is having a hard time right now making ends meet. Nobody’s ideal job is standing out in the street all day selling anything. I know people who have done this, and it’s not the easy life by any means. I like the Community Bookstore and all, but the man wasn’t exactly Barnes & Noble (not that they probably wouldn’t be even more bullying if he were in front of their store). If a street vendor is going to take away business from a bookstore, maybe it needs to re-think the way it does business.
1st of all prohibiting someone from selling books anyplace violates the 1st amendment. No one has to buy the books. I used to own a business in Park Slope Carvel/ Mojo Cafe’. No one seemed to care that I had to compete with ice cream vendors, who pay no rent or taxes. Some of their patrons even came to sit and eat those purchases on my premises. I thoroughly understand the bookstore’s frustration. In my case the police would not even enforce parking violations. Between the landlord and that I had to sell my business.
Thanks for the update! The Community Bookstore has long been one of the best reasons to live in the Slope–it’s a terrific indie bookstore, and I greatly appreciate the store’s committment to “community” wherever that be–in Brooklyn, in New Orleans . . .
I hope that community book stores continue to thrive; however, assaulting a sidewalk vendor because he might not have the money to pay for the retail space that the community book store doesn’t really address the problems that community book stores are facing. The real problem is internet book sales and large big-box-bookstores. Having customers yell at someone without the privileges enjoyed by store owners seems a little over the top to me.
What would make this incredibly ironic is if the Community Book Store actually sells Mitchell Duneier’s Sidewalk where he describes this very process happening (in Greenwich Village) and the entitlement that many shop owners feel over the less fortunate who are relegated to the street.