Happy Birthday to the Strand Bookstore!
Today we celebrate 90 years of the Strand Bookstore. This beloved neighborhood institution was founded in 1927 by Benjamin Bass as a used bookstore on the famous Book Row, which consisted of 48 book stores along Fourth Avenue from Astor Place to Union Square. Strand remains among the last of these bookstores. Today is actually owner Fred Bass’s 89th Birthday. You can still find Fred working in the store with his daughter and co-owner Nancy Bass Wyden, who comprises the third generation of family ownership.
Out of the 48 bookstores on 4th Avenue’s Book Row, only the Strand remains. Photo by Alexander Alland Sr. via Strand Bookstore
Strand was expanded by Ben’s son Fred, who moved the store to its current Broadway and East 12 Street location in 1957. This amazing, family-owned business has been around for 90 years!
Today Strand sells not only used books but also recent releases and rare books, and has the largest selection of art books in NYC. Its web business ships orders around the world. In addition to selling books, Strand hold six events a week, hosts tours for children visiting its fabulous children’s department, works on set designs for theater and film, and even assembles personal custom libraries for clients.
The original Strand on 9th Street. Photo by Alexander Alland Sr. via image via Strand Bookstore
For many years Strand had a South Street Seaport location, which moved to Fulton Street in 1996 and closed in 2008. It has been a hard decade for local bookstores.
Many of our local bookstores have closed their doors in the past few years including St. Marks Bookshop (one of our Business of the Month awardees), Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, and Left Bank Books. But through it all, Strand has continued to shine, employing a staff of over 200 and serving as a beacon for the neighborhood.
In 2016 they received one of our Village Awards for their contributions to the neighborhood. Just this year the windows of the store were blown out by a manhole explosion. And development pressures along 3rd and 4th avenues will only accelerate if we do not get needed rezoning protections before the 14th Street Tech Hub is approved- you can learn more about that effort here.
And still, this past Monday Strand had a well deserved birthday party with numerous supporters, including Eddie Sutton, Strand General Manager, David Levithan, Author, Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, Lisa Lucas, President of the National Book Foundation and even Mayor Bill de Blasio came by to celebrate this longstanding small business in our neighborhood.
Here’s to many more chapters in the story of Strand Bookstore!