05/06/2026
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Despite the online shopping juggernaut’s best efforts, the ranks of America’s indie bookstores have swelled by 70 percent since 2020. The industry’s trade group, the American Booksellers Association, now counts 3,200 members. As a handful of Silicon Valley titans propel an ever-larger share of our economy, this surprising turnaround for formerly imperiled booksellers isn’t just unexpected good news—it’s proof Americans have both the desire and the ability to resist Big Tech.
So how did small bookstores make their comeback? Well, it seems that many people simply prefer not to confine their reading to the digital world, nor their shopping to exploitative, union-busting warehouses. A third of Americans now see Big Tech as the largest threat to the nation’s future, which suggests that years of exhortations to “shop small” have likely found receptive audiences.
There’s also the singular experience of patronizing a local bookstore, where clerks are on hand to offer expert guidance, locally relevant selections hold pride of place on front tables, and where shoppers may encounter friends, neighbors, and their next favorite reads. While browsing in a physical store, readers are three times more likely to stumble upon a new book they’re interested in than they are when scrolling through Amazon’s interface. Read more from Katrina vanden Heuvel: https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/independent-bookstore-revival-amazon-decline-local-retail-reading-trends/
