An Astoria Bookshop!

Finally… A real book store in Astoria! Astoria Bookshop will be opening its doors at 31-27 31st Street. I can’t wait. For those who don’t know, Astoria had a bookstore until 2011. But Seaburn Books was a horrible bookstore (not withstanding the fact that Sam, the owner, is a swell guy). There was very little stock, and much of said stock was stoop-sale quality. Books couldn’t be found because they weren’t even sorted. Nor was there any bookstore culture. Just piles and piles of overpriced crap. It wasn’t a great business model (“So, Sam, after you looked in vain for 15 minutes for a book you should know whether you have or not, you want me to place an order and come back in a four days and then pay much more than if I just ordered on Amazon, got the book sooner, and didn’t have to make a second trip back to this cluttered mess? No thanks.”) Once I went into Seaburn and suggested perhaps they could highlight local Astoria writers. Sam thought it was a great idea… and, as always, nothing happened. It was probably good that Seaburn closed. Not because we need another frozen yogurt store (indeed, that is what is now at the location) but because it’s better to have it known that Astoria has no bookstore rather than have people think that market niche was filled, and not thriving. So now, yes indeed, Astoria will have a bookstore! A real bookstore. With books… Culture… Even alphabetization! I’m giddy just thinking about it. [And coming soon, perhaps just a block away: Astoria Coffee Shop. Try a sample. I’m drinking me some of Dennis’s brew right now!]