Posted on 04/08/2020 2:44:47 PM PDT by LibWhacker
San Francisco’s Green Apple Books struggles for survival, adapts to change
The Richmond District institution Green Apple Books has been around for more than 50 years. They have closed their doors to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions, but are still taking orders and are adapting by holding an author's book release through an online Zoom meeting.
SAN FRANCISCO - Many would consider Green Apple Books on busy Clement Street in San Francisco's Richmond District an institution. After all it opened its doors in 1967.
Now, the owners of the bookstore have turned to online sales to comply with the coronavirus shelter-in-place order. Most employees have been laid off.
"I just want to unlock the door and let people back into the store," said Kevin Ryan, co-owner of Green Apple Books and two other bookstores in the city.
Inside the store, it's unnaturally quiet. The shelves are filled, but there's no one browsing in the isles.
"It's amazing how quickly it shut down," said Ryan,"It's very strange. Got the garbage cans in the store. Boxes in places where there ordinarily wouldn't be boxes."
The business is coping with the third week of shelter in place.
Ryan said he can't pay rent. He now depends on selling books online which he says has increased substantially, but the margin for profit is slim.
"The orders are filled from a third-party source and so they take their cuts," said Ryan.
"It's kind of my go-to place. Walk in here two or three times a week," said Steven Dinkelspiel, a longtime patron who lives nearby. He said he recently placed his first online order with the store's website.
"I miss the fact that I can't come in here and ask for recommendations about books that will help me escape the unpleasant thoughts that all of us are having and the loneliness some of us are experiencing," said Dinkelspiel.
The bookstore will be hosting its first online event Tuesday at 5 p.m. via Zoom with an author who's releasing a new book.
Ryan hopes this dark chapter will end soon.
"I love my job. I miss coming into the store and touching the books, seeing my customers and booksellers."
He said he's optimistic that he will be able re-open the store once the shelter-in-place order is lifted.
Ryan said the question is how many people will come into the store to buy books once this crisis is over.
Same here, in general about shopping on Clement Street. Bustling with people, vegetables on display every other store. You could pretty much buy anything you wanted, on Clement - pots and pans, brooms, hardware not to mention all the restaurants, banks, book stores, clothing goods, gadgets and other items. I used to go there often for banking and dim sum (best and cheapest around). Can't imagine that it will ever get back to normal.
Stores must adapt or die. If you have inventory nobody buys and you insist on maintaining that inventory instead of stocking items people want to buy, you’re not adapting.
“The Richmond District institution Green Apple Books...”
The place is still open? Amazing.
Moe’s Books in Berkeley closed several years ago. Green Apple needs to adapt: young people do not read books or newspapers, do not watch evening news, do not use payphones and do not purchase collectibles, such as antiques, baseball cards and dolls.
Are you sure about Moe’s? I was there in February of this year.
If he has "isles" he needs to fix his flooding problem. Or maybe Amber needs to stop using the spell checker as the only method of proofreading what she wrote.
Meh! Who cares what young people do.
They won’t remember tomorrow. Why should I try to figure it out.
I’m mostly teasing, but you can see posters that remember his store. I’m sure he enjoys his store and his clientele. Hopefully, he’ll be back to both, soon.
Lol
Young people do indeed purchase dolls and read books. But the dolls are of anime or pop culture figures and the books are non-fiction/technical or in electronic form. They also purchase other collectibles. Just not the crap that stores like these are full of - gaming collectables are hotter than ever, for example.
Baseball? Eh.
As an aside, it's a KTVU story. I haven't heard those call letters in several decades.
(I used to watch Huckleberry Hound on KTVU as a 10-year old in the 1950s.)
I've observed young people collecting stuff. I know people who deal in collectibles, and there's quite a market dealing with young people collecting comic books, magazines, sports memorabilia, and even dolls. You wouldn't know it unless you buy the stuff. One of my daughters and her husband collect artwork and dolls and say it's a big thing with young people. Artwork in the sense of cartoon type characters, not Monet type stuff.
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