New York’s oldest bookstore saved thanks to its regulars

Direction New York on Park avenue. This is where one of the oldest bookstores in town is located. An institution weakened like many by the health crisis linked to Covid-19. So much so that its owner launched a call for help a week ago on social networks.

Nancy Bass Wyden recalled that since Strand was founded in 1927 by her grandfather, the store has survived almost everything: the Great Depression, the two world wars, the creation of digital books and even online giants. But the epidemic that is emptying the streets of New York, its inhabitants, its tourists, this is the coup de grace …

However, there is a line of conduct in the family. You never give up without a fight. From where the appeal to its customers, which she sees more as a community, this is what she explains to Washington Post.

She asked regulars to support the bookstore by continuing to shop. Goal : hold until a vaccine is found and that a new page is written.

$ 200,000 cashed and 25,000 online orders

In just one week, almost 200,000 dollars were cashed. A New Yorker bought 197 books! A dozen clients have asked Nancy to take care of their personal library. And the bookstore’s website has bugged him several times, due to very many online orders: 25,000 in all.

There too, since it’s a family affair, Nancy’s little girl, who is barely 12 years old, came to prepare the packages with the whole team. It is not idle and so much the better.

A week after this SO S, Nancy still can’t get over it. “It’s so heartwarming”, she said thanking her supporters. This is the name she gives to her clients.

Like what, even in this very harsh period, when we talk about literature, there is always a little magic whether in France where very many articles this Friday morning are devoted to the rush to bookstores before containment, or in New York.