- Strand Bookstore
Strand Bookstore is an
independent bookstore located inNew York City 's Greenwich Village. It was founded in 1927 by Benjamin Bass. The store is famous among New Yorkers for its giant collection of publishers overstock, used, rare, and out-of-print books, as well as the chaos on and around its shelves. The store houses the city's largest collection ofrare books , and is also a contender for the title of world's largest used bookstore (its major competitor in this regard beingPowell's Books ofPortland, Oregon ). "18 Miles of Books" is its (present) slogan. Fred and Benjamin Bass gave jobs in the store to many Lower East Side artists, includingPatti Smith (who claimed not to have liked the experience because it "wasn't very friendly")New York Magazine, November 27, 2005 [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/music/pop/15172/ "Patty Smith Discusses Her Influences"] ] andTom Verlaine , both rock artists of the 70's.A family-owned business with more than 200 employees, the Strand was opened by
Benjamin Bass in 1927 on 4th Avenue's Book Row. His son Fred took over the business in 1956 and soon moved the store to the present location at the corner of East 12th Street and Broadway, where the store occupies three and a half floors, using half a floor for offices and one additional floor as warehouse space. Fred's daughter Nancy, is co-owner of the store , and is also married to U.S. SenatorRon Wyden of Oregon.In addition to the main bookstore, the Central Park Kiosk is open on fairweather days at the corner of
Fifth Avenue and East 60th Street. An additional location, the Strand Book Annex in theFinancial District , closed on September 22, 2008Downtown Express, June 27, 2008. [http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_269/strandedbyconstruction.html "Stranded by construction, book store will close its doors"] ] .In 2002,
USA Today cited Strand as one of the 10 best used bookstores in AmericaUSA Today, January 21, 2002. [http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2003-09-29-books_x.htm?loc=interstitialskip "10 Great Places to Crawl Between the Covers"] ] .References
External links
* [http://www.strandbooks.com Strand Bookstore website]
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