Riverstone Books Is the Largest Independent Bookstore in the Pittsburgh-Area
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Riverstone Books is the largest independent bookstore in the Pittsburgh-area. Opened in October 2017, and located in the popular shopping destination McCandless Crossing, Riverstone Books offers a curated selection of literary and popular fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. We also offer a variety of gift items, greeting cards, children’s toys, puzzles, educational games, and literary stuffed animals. Our experienced booksellers are voracious readers who match customers with books they will love. Pittsburgh enjoys a robust and growing literary community. Riverstone is one of nine independent bookstores in the metro-area, with a tenth opening this fall. Online & Social Reach Partnerships Store Newsletter 1700+ Subscribers WESA (NPR) /riverstonebookstore 1200+ Likes WQED (PBS), including exclusive bookstore sponsorship of PBS programming: Little Women, The Great American Read, @riverstonebookstore 420+ Followers and the Pittsburgh Writers episode of Pittsburgh History series @riverstonepgh 300+ Followers Littsburgh (@littsburgh), an online literary network for writers and readers Staff Members: 8 Northern Regional Library Network, with support for Battles of the Books, onsite sales for author events Store Size: 2700 square feet Bookish in the ‘Burgh, exclusive bookstore partner of Type: New Book Sales Only Pittsburgh’s new YA literary festival Memberships: ABA, NAIBA & ASTRA Beatrix Potter Society Weekly Reporting: NYT Bestsellers, Indie Bestsellers & ABA Soundscan Events Riverstone has hosted more than 120 author events in store in the last twelve months. In-store events have promoted a range of books, from Civil War history to young adult novels to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Fred Rogers. The store can be arranged for intimate readings of a dozen or crowds of 50+ and we have a partnership with LaRoche University (walking distance from the store) for larger events. We have both adult and YA book clubs. Upcoming events include our latest Riversongs (music performances) and a bee and plant workshop. Sample of author events at and/or with Riverstone Books in last 12 months Author / Book Attendance Book Sales Walter Stahr / Stanton 45 29 Mark Meyer & Meredith Grelli Meyer / The Whiskey Rebellion 25 63 Spirits tasting Marie Benedict / The Only Woman in 40 77 the Room Quelcy Kogel / Gluten Free Grains 15 24 Tasting luncheon Sarah Tarkoff / Sinless / Fearless 75 / 50 84 / 38 Tunch Ilkin / In the Locker Room 25 76 Maxwell King / The Good Neighbor 25 60 Coming in June: Jerry Spinelli / My Fourth of July 100 87 Picnic/Pie Bakeoff Terry Brooks / The Stiehl Assassin 85 64 Ty Pennington / Life to the Extreme 80 75 Location Conveniently located in the new McCandless Crossing town square shopping center, with two hotels onsite, Riverstone Books is near several major highways and just 15 minutes north of downtown Pittsburgh. Drive times to Riverstone Books: Pittsburgh International Airport - 35 minutes Washington, DC - 4 hours New York City - 6.5 hours Press Clippings Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Tucked away in the children’s section of Riverstone Books, an arched entrance leads to a small reading nook filled with pillows for kids to curl up and get lost in a story. The owner, Barbara Jeremiah, hopes to have an artist paint a scene in that space reminiscent of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the blockbuster Harry Potter series. With more digital devices infiltrating modern life, it’s a rare thing for an independent bookstore to set up shop. But Riverstone, which employs six people, opened its doors in mid-October in McCandless Crossing in time for the holiday season. Ms. Jeremiah, a lifelong Hampton resident, bemoaned the dearth of book sellers along McKnight Road and decided to fill the void. The new 2,300-square-foot store features a variety fiction and non-fiction, as well as children’s books and authors with a connection to the Pittsburgh area. “The store exists because I’m not the only one who misses having a bookstore nearby,” she said. “It’s important to be able to spend time with your children or grandchildren, picking out a book and reading with them. We also sell games that incorporate logic and letters and recognition. “The children’s section has the floor space it has for a reason,” Ms. Jeremiah noted. Ms. Jeremiah isn’t a novice to the book industry. She has run another store, Undercover Books and Gifts, in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, since 2012 with her business partner Kobie Nichols. Overall, independent bookstore sales have been climbing, according to the American Booksellers Association. The New York-based trade organization has members in 2,300 locations. “Book sales in independent stores grew almost 8 percent in 2012 in the U.S. over the previous year, and independent bookstores held on to almost all those gains in 2013,” according to the association. “The indie channel ended 2016 on a high note, with overall sales for the last seven weeks of the year — encompassing Thanksgiving and Small Business Saturday through New Year’s Day — up 5 percent over the same period in 2015.” Ms. Jeremiah found the St. Croix bookstore could stay in the black, even as the island lost a major employer when an oil refinery closed. “That gave me confidence that you can own a bookstore in this century,” she said. But a bookstore in the Pittsburgh market will have its own challenges. For one thing, consumers can get a book shipped from Amazon much faster here than to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Pricing can be challenging, too. “We can’t discount the way Amazon does,” she said. Riverstone has reached out to nearby schools and also has gotten support from publishers. Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, said more publishers are working with indie shops. “Publishers have figured out that they need brick-and-mortar stores to survive to be an important part of the landscape,” Mr. Teicher said. “The internet does a lot of things, but it’s hard to discover books you don’t know about,” he said. “Our publisher friends have realized they have to help us create a viable business model to exist.” Another factor bolstering indie shops is the “buy local” movement highlighting small businesses. “The localism movement in America is real,” Mr. Teicher said. Ms. Jeremiah said the industry overall is showing signs of cautious optimism. “Selling books isn’t going to make anyone rich,” she said. “They do it because they love books. They want to promote literacy.” Ms. Jeremiah decided to get into the book industry after she retired from Alcoa in 2009. In the 1990s, she frequently worked at an Alcoa facility on St. Croix. She loved the island and had a friend who was going to put her bookstore up for sale. Ms. Jeremiah and Ms. Nichols partnered to buy the shop. With the spate of hurricanes that have battered the Caribbean, the book store has been a refuge for residents of St. Croix, Ms. Nichols said. “Our store was lucky to be spared,” Ms. Nichols said. “When there’s power outages like we have seen, a physical book is much more useful than a device you have to recharge.” ### Pittsburgh Tribune Review - As the former head of corporate development for Alcoa, Barbara Jeremiah knows the importance of location. Thus, when looking for a site to open an independent bookstore in the North Hills, McCandless Crossing in the North Hills caught her eye – specifically one prime storefront next to a Panera restaurant. “It was absolutely the best place,” says Jeremiah, whose Riverstone Books opened on Oct. 12. “It's no secret in (book) retailing that you have to have coffee or wine.” Riverstone Books fills a void in the North Hills left by the closing of Borders Books at the Shoppes at Northway in 2011. The other closest full-scale bookstores are Barnes & Noble stores in Cranberry and at Waterworks Mall in Fox Chapel. Jeremiah is no stranger in rescuing communities in need of independent bookshops. A few years she purchased Undercover Books & Gifts, the only independent bookstore on St. Croix, when it was in danger of closing. “We didn't want to have a winter home without a bookstore,” Jeremiah says. Now she's providing literary enthusiasts in the North Hills with a refuge. The 2,700-square-foot store features fiction, non-fiction, mystery and children's sections (with an inviting and cozy book nook that at least one adult has used, according to store manager Kristin Pidgeon). There's also a section dedicated to local authors, and the floor book displays are on casters to make it easier to host reading and live events. The design of the children's section was important to Jeremiah, who wanted to make it a place for grandparents to read to children. The store will begin hosting story time events for kids on Oct. 28; the first two books to be read are “Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins” by James Dean, and Linda White's “Too Many Pumpkins.” So far, reaction from the community has been positive. Pidgeon admits she's been surprised by the number of customers who have already found the store. And Jeremiah says she's heard from McCandless officials who are thrilled about the opening of Riverstone. “The township (of McCandless) is very proud to have a new bookstore,” Jeremiah says. ### .