No Revitalization in Store for Recycle Bookstore

Bookstore on the Alameda adjusts to business during coronavirus

It’s no secret that the novel coronavirus has brought economic hardship to families and businesses in the United States, with one prime victim being independent bookstores. 
In recent weeks, places like Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, Calif. and Strand Books in New York City have notified their loyal customers of their impending closure as sales continue to plummet amid the coronavirus.  

For now, this tragic chapter isn’t coming to one of San Jose’s beloved treasures on the Alameda, Recycle Bookstore. 

“We’ve really seen great support from the community,” said Eric Johnson, the current owner of the two Recycle Bookstores located in San Jose and Campbell, Calif. 

Johnson has been the owner of the store since 1998 when him and his wife purchased it from its original owners. Since then, they’ve revamped the store and helped make it as popular as it is today.

When Santa Clara County mandated all non-essential businesses to close on Mar. 15, Recycle Bookstore had very few sources of revenue with restrictions against in-person shopping. It wasn’t until a customer offered a $500 donation that Johnson began to ponder the idea of creating a GoFundMe fundraiser for his stores. 

After witnessing successful GoFundMe campaigns for City Light Books in San Francisco and other places online, he decided to start his own and raised just over $30,000 to support both Recycle Bookstores while their physical locations remained closed.

Throughout the two and a half months that their stores were closed, Johnson kept returning to the store everyday to process their online orders through Amazon, perform curbside sales, and moving sections around for when businesses would reopen. 

Since reopening the stores around the beginning of June, Johnson mentioned that it has been fairly easy to attract customers to come back, but it is still less than what they had before the pandemic. Although, customers have been spending more money in their purchases.

“I think a good portion of people have come back, and also a good portion of people know that we need the support,” said Johnson. “So while we also have maybe fewer people coming to the store, maybe 15-20% less coming in, they’ve been spending a lot of money when they’ve been coming in.” 

As indie bookstores continue to shutter during the pandemic, bookstores are organizing against their largest competitor—Amazon.

On Oct. 13, the American Booksellers Association launched the #BoxedOut campaign in an attempt for consumers to see the devastation that Amazon has caused their businesses. 

Across the country, indie bookstores plastered the walls outside their shops with posters, signs and boxes with phrases such as “Don’t let indie bookstores become a work of fiction,” “If you want Amazon to be the world’s only retailer, keep shopping there,” and “Anyone else feel weird about making a $1.6 trillion company even richer?”

While Amazon may have changed the landscape for independent bookstores, Johnson also acknowledges that Amazon has been a tool for them to sell many of their used books. 

“Every revenue stream is necessary,” said Johnson. “If I refuse to sell on Amazon on principle, it’d be a nice statement but it’d eventually harm the bookstore.”

The future of the indie bookstore scene is unknown, but Johnson hopes that consumers think critically about where their money goes.

“Do you want a future in which everybody buys everything online and has no interactions, or do you want a place where you can wander through the aisles of books and idly browse and see what comes up?” said Johnson. 

As the holiday shopping season approaches, one of the most vital sales periods for businesses of all sizes, Johnson continues to feel motivated because it’s required of him as a small business owner. 

“With small business owners, whatever must happen you make happen,” said Johnson. “You have to do whatever you can to keep the flow going so that you stay above water.”