Local Matters

Certainly it will come as no surprise to hear that we at Broadway Books are passionate about the importance of local independent bookstores and the role they play in their communities. But what you might not know is that our zeal extends beyond our own store, and even beyond bookstores. We are firm believers in the role local independent stores play in general in maintaining the vitality and personality of their communities. We think it's important to have places where the vast majority of the sales remain in the community, and where the decisions about what to sell and serve are made locally and geared toward community, rather than being made by some corporate headquarters who-knows-where. You might not know this, but every single item in our store -- books, magazines, cards, art, reading glasses, whatever -- is individually and specifically selected by someone in our store; there are no "mass shipments" of any kind. This is most likely true for other local independent stores and restaurants and coffee shops. Because we are so passionate on this topic, we've decided that from time to time -- maybe weekly-ish -- we will talk in this blog about other local independent stores. Mostly they'll be in our own Northeast Portland community, but sometimes we'll step out. Like today. Stay tuned.