What makes a retail establishment the best of its kind? For sure, the usual requirements like selection, price and convenience. Customer service is high on the list, too. But sometimes a really good idea about how the business will play a vital role in a community is just as important. Thatās key to why weāve selected CLASS Bookstore, a relative upstart, as the cityās top bookseller this year.
Launched less than a year ago by husband-and-wife booklovers David and Dara Landry, the online retailer is helping to battle the dearth of Black-owned bookstores in one of the countryās biggest cities. According to Publisherās Weekly, print book sales rose by nearly 10 percent during 2020 and its associated lockdown, a ten-year high. And, in the wake of the George Floyd murder and a summer of protests, books related to social justice topics helped drive that spike. Youāll find many of those books on the virtual shelves of CLASS Bookstore. Once you arrive, youāre greeted with the familiar colors of the Pan-African flag and an array of titles like Worldās Great Men of Color and Women, Race & Class. The site makes it easy on buyers, offering interest-free installment payments on books as low as $6.95. You'll probably never find a more convenient path to the Bhagavad Gita.
Some bookstores are known for having a Starbucks tucked in a corner or for in-store author appearances. Thatās part of their brand. CLASS is creating its own identity by folding fashion into its mix. The storeās Instagram page reads āWhere Nike Meets Nietzscheā and the purveyorsā interest in couture culture is evident in the pop-ups they frequent to promote both interests and, of course, the books, with titles like Sneaker Wars and the streetwear tome This Is Not a T-shirt. Everything is delivered lovingly via thoughtful book blurbs, blogs, social media posts and online author chats, all with the idea in mind that little is more fashionable than a life enhanced by reading.
classbookstore.com