Protecting our Indie bookstores from rent displacement

Source: nextcity.org

“When a bookstore closes, it’s as if a light has gone out in the neighborhood. A bookstore is a city’s soul; it’s where we go to find ourselves and each other.”

— Unknown

Just the other day we visited one of our local independent bookstores in suburban Albuquerque to trade/sell/buy some books. Upon arriving, we were shocked and saddened to learn the store will be closing in May 2026. Why? Not because of poor business practices, nor a lack of customers, but because their landlord raised their rent by a $1,000/month!

For independent bookstores, which traditionally operate on lower margins set by publishers and exacerbated by online competition, such a sudden and substantial rent increase is often unaffordable. Furthermore, the local store could not find another nearby location. As a result the store sold their entire book inventory to someone who plans to open a bookstore roughly 10+ miles away and this Albuquerque suburb will be losing an iconic local retailer and its lone bookstore.

Such a sad story is hardly unique, as large rent increases are a common factor that drives independent bookstores out-of-business or forces them to relocate to a different (more affordable) location. When a bookstore owner does not own the building where they are situated, they can be subject to the whims of their landlord. And like apartments, some landlords are good and others…not so much.

“If communities want a strong, diverse, and dynamic retail and service base, they must find ways to support their local business owners. As ‘third places,‘ bookstores, coffee shops, pubs, and similar informal social gathering spots are particularly critical cornerstones to fostering economic vibrancy. They are literally the super glue that holds it all together.”

– panethos.wordpress.com

Rent burden displacement is not a problem solely for bookstores, it is a potential challenge for all small businesses who lease their space. Therefore, if communities want a strong, diverse, and dynamic retail and service base, they must find ways to support their local business owners. As ‘third places,‘ bookstores, coffee shops, pubs, and similar informal social gathering spots are particularly critical cornerstones to fostering economic vibrancy. They are literally the super glue that holds it all together.

Supportive efforts to help prevent rent displacement may include but not be limited to grants, subsidies, tax abatements, commercial land trusts, low-interest loans, or even kickstarter and go fund me campaigns. Bear in mind, the assistance often must be in the form of a rapid response to effective help the business owner during a crisis.

“We talk about empty storefronts as if they’re just an aesthetic problem, as if it’s acne, but let’s add up all the missing sales tax from all the businesses that are not there.”

“It’s easy to respond to this by saying a commercial lease isn’t a public concern, it’s a private negotiation between two private parties. But…it is public: this kind of landlord-tenant conflict isn’t a private matter because ultimately if you wind up with a downtown with no small businesses in it, it’s not private anymore. If small businesses can’t make it, it is a civic problem [emphasis added]. After all, policymakers tacitly acknowledge this when they give subsidies to larger-scale developers who promise economic activity.”

– How to Protect Bookstores and Why, page 119.

Without access to emergency rent assistance, impacted storefronts may sit empty for extended periods or become occupied solely regional/national chains who can afford the higher lease rates. Do we really want our Main Streets and other local retail areas to become blighted by noticeable gaps in their storefronts or to become overpopulated with the same bland cookie-cutter “Generica-style” appearance found along commercial zones all across the United States.

Abandoning your local businesses is also a bad financial decision. Chain stores and online retailers simply do not plow money back into the local economy like local businesses do. Here’s a comparison using independent bookstores:

“The ABA [American Booksellers Association] report claims that approximately 29% of all revenue at independent bookstore immediately recirculates in the local economy. This translates to a local impact advantage of 109% that of chain competitor Barnes & Noble, and a massive 405% local impact advantage over Amazon.”

– How to Protect Bookstores and Why, page 12.

[In other words, 29 percent of every dollar spent at an independent bookstore is immediately recirculated in the local economy, while a Barnes & Noble only plugs 13.9 percent of every dollar back into local economies and Amazon returns a paltry 5.74 percent to local economies.]

Lastly, what makes no sense to this retired planner is why landlords jack-up rents to only have their existing tenants depart, leaving vacant spaces for months or even years. Such an approach seems counterintuitive. An occupied retail space is a monthly payment coming in to cover property taxes and other ownership costs to the landlord. Maybe the landlord does not make as much in profits, but at least they are covering more costs than an empty space would do.

So…what gives? Are these empty spaces a tax write-off? If so, then our tax laws definitely need to be re-written and re-codified in a manner that supports retail spaces being occupied over and above them being left to sit empty. In the meantime, strategies for emergency assistance when a crisis arrises should be crafted to meet their immediate needs and help insure that your local ‘third places’ such as independent bookstores and other treasured local businesses remain open and operating.

Peace!

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