‘The future is indie’: What’s sparking a bookstore resurgence around Charlotte?

Alex Fuller of Matthews has more books than he knows what to do with. Still, he couldn’t resist stopping in Charlotte’s newest independent bookstore Troubadour Booksellers to look around.

“It’s just not often you see a new independent bookstore pop up,” he said. “It’s great to see. You can’t beat that new bookstore smell.”

Troubadour opened last month in east Charlotte at 1721 Sardis Road in the Sardis Crossings shopping center. Inside the 1,200-square-foot store, bright white bookcases against blue walls are filled with newly released books in all genres, from young adult fiction and science fiction to poetry and biographies.

“It was a pipe dream for a long time,” Troubadour owner Scott Tynes-Miller said of opening the independent bookstore.

Tynes-Miller said other bookstores in the Charlotte area, like Book Buyers on Eastway Drive and chain store 2nd & Charles, which sell used books. “But there wasn’t another new bookstore, independently owned, within several miles,” he said.

Opening weekend Oct. 19 exceeded Tynes-Miller’s sales expectations by 25%.

‘The future is indie’

Troubadour is part of a post-pandemic bookstore trend happening across the country.

Over 900 independent bookstores have opened across the U.S. since 2020 and the beginning of the pandemic, Allison Hill, CEO of the national industry nonprofit American Booksellers Association.

“More and more customers want to know the people they’re buying from and supporting,” Hill said. “They want to support their neighbors who are business owners and ensure that their communities are unique, interesting and inclusive. Independent bookstores offer them all of that, and we believe that the future is indie.”

Over 250 independent bookstores are planning to open over the next two years, according to the association, which has 2,185 company memberships.

Back in April during Independent Bookstore Day, Hill said indie bookstores were packed across the country, some with lines out the door and reporting second-best day sales after Black Friday.

Troubadour joins other stores in the Charlotte region selling new books, too. In Charlotte, Park Road Books, which opened 47 years ago, sells new books. In Gaston County, Cleary’s Bookstore in Mount Holly and Belmont Bookshop have opened in the past year in December and last November, respectively. There’s also Trope Bookshop, a book bus selling romance novels, which debuted in October 2023.

“I’m part of a little part of a boom in the Charlotte area,” Tynes-Miller said. “There is this hunger for the physical medium that the people want and it’s never gonna truly go away. The print book is resilient.”

‘Community feel’ at neighborhood bookstores

Several people were popping in Troubadour just days after opening to look around, or just welcome the shop to the east Charlotte neighborhood.

Dawn Evans and Jennifer Upright drove nearly an hour to offer well wishes. Evans owns Editions Coffee Shop and Book Store in downtown Kannapolis, where Upright has worked full-time for five years. Both women said it’s important for indie booksellers to support each other.

“We came to welcome him,” Upright said. “It’s a tight-knit community.”

That’s what indie bookstores offer that online giants like Amazon, which started as a bookseller in the 1990s, and chains like Barnes & Noble don’t offer.

“It’s no secret the profit margins for books is small,” Tynes-Miller said. “You need to treat yourself as a different business. We can offer local, personable customer service and that kind of community feel.”

Troubadour plans to host book clubs and author events, and offer community meeting space. There are couches, tables and chairs in Troubadour along with a children’s corner.

Indie bookstores support schools through book fairs, donations and author visits, add character to neighborhoods, champion diverse voices and fight book bans, Hill said.

“People are craving in-person experiences and are seeking out third places to gather, connect or just be with people,” Hill said. “Brick-and-mortar independent bookstores meet that need in a meaningful way and indie bookstores are seeing an increase in sales as a result.”

A 2022 Civic Economic report by the economic analysis firm showed that 29% of revenue from indie bookstores immediately recirculates in the local economy, which is nearly five times the amount compared to Amazon and three times compared to Barnes and Noble.

‘People want shelf trophies’

Evans opened Editions bookstore seven years ago at 217 S. Main St. in Kannapolis selling new and used books.

But things changed during the pandemic. The bookstore sold used books when Evans bought it, but now new books account for 80% of the business. Readers now are looking for special editions, page overlays and new book release swag like stickers and bookmarks that help draw customers to the stores, Evans said.

“People want shelf trophies,” Upright said.

Editions also has been a community hub with book release parties and author signings.

There’s also been politicking with drop-ins over the years by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Douglas Emhoff, husband of vice president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. “We’ve had some interesting people stopping at the store,” Evans said.

Editions continually changes, too.

A coffee shop was added to the 2,400-square-foot old mill home during the pandemic. There’s also a yarn room now and knitting groups meet there. Editions sells books online and audiobooks through Libro FM and bookshop.org.

“You’ve got to be willing to change and adjust to the market,” Evans said.

Editions has 15 full- and part-time employees.

“When we first opened a $300 day was great,” Evans said. “Now we’re pushing $3,000 a day.”

A place to shop

It was during the pandemic that Tynes-Miller, an east Charlotte resident who had worked 13 years with Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, began researching and building a business plan to open Troubadour. His initial investment was six figures, he said. The store has four part-time workers; hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Troubadour carries about 5,500 titles, plus 20% non-book merchandise, Tynes-Miller said. He said he’s been learning about popular sub-genres of romance like dark romance and romantasy, and Manga.

Tynes-Miller settled on the Sardis Crossing location because he and his wife often ate nearby at New Zealand Cafe on busy nights at the restaurants, “there wasn’t really much to do while you waited,” he said.

“Hopefully, they come down here.”