Q & A about Phinney Books

Q&A about Phinney Books

We’re coming up on our third Independent Bookstore Days promotion with Phinney Books in Greenwood. Owner Tom Nissley describes how the store has evolved over the past decade.

How did you begin working with Books to Prisoners?

Books to Prisoners came to us a few years ago to ask about partnering on some of their book drives and promotions, but it was a call we were delighted to get (and probably should have made ourselves, if we weren’t always busy and overwhelmed!), since at the time they were located just a couple of blocks from our store, and we were already aware of the good work they do.

What makes your store different from other bookstores in Seattle?

I would say one of the good things about bookstores in Seattle is that there are so many good readers here that we can have neighborhood bookstores like ours—like Queen Anne Book Co. or Secret Garden in Ballard or the newer Ridgecrest in Shoreline—that are in some ways the “same” (smaller, general interest stores that try to stock a bit of everything), but that each, as you'll quickly see if you visit any of us, have its own personality. If you visit us, you’ll find a lot of translated literature, a lot of nature writing, a lot of books imported from the UK, a lot of current events and history, and a lot of challenging and lovely jigsaw puzzles.

How has your store changed in the time you've worked there? How would you like to see it change in the future?

We’ve been open for 10 years, and I think mainly we’ve just become more confident in our own personality, both in the things we do and the things we’ve learned that we don’t have to do. And we’ve also—and this is one of the best things about having a neighborhood store—gotten to know our customers and neighbors and what they want to read, so the store’s personality has become a combination of all of us, booksellers and customers. I hope to just continue that collaboration, but if I have a goal at all, it’s just to keep getting a little weirder, and to get away with it, by finding the readers who will support our less predictable impulses. But my real question about, say, the next ten years is what the political situation of our country is going to be. Though it hasn’t affected our day-to-day business yet, it appears very dire right now, and it seems likely that more will be asked of everyone, including cultural institutions, even small ones like ours.

How has your store managed to adapt and survive in an environment dominated by internet booksellers and national chains?

That’s an endless challenge in the bookstore business: it’s not an easy business and there’s always someone big moving in. But I think we’ve had the fortune to be open in a time and a place when many customers, after all the initial excitement about ecommerce and ebooks, recognize that they really like independent physical bookstores, and that if they want those places to exist they need to support them. Mainly (and I say this as someone who—true confession time—worked on Amazon’s bookstore before I opened Phinney Books) we compete with them by not trying to be them. We take some advantage of the modern book business, with an email newsletter and social media and the speed (usually) of the book supply chain, but otherwise, we just focus on being a neighborhood resource, and being an enjoyable, personable, idiosyncratic alternative to all the headaches and impersonality and soulless monopoly domination of the online world.

How does your store interact with your physical community? Your cultural community?

Mainly by being there, with an open door, every day of the week. We also do outreach outside of the store, mainly through schools—we do a lot of school book fairs—and through organizations like B2P.

Is there anything else you want the readers of our newsletter to know about your store?

Come say hi! And thanks to Books to Prisoners for including us as a partner!

Location and hours,

Phinney Books

7405 Greenwood Ave. N

Seattle, WA 98103

206-297-2665

www.phinneybooks.com

Hours for Store Pickup:

Mon-Sat 10-7  Sun 12-5

Or, go right to our wishlist with them: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/db45dae0c9dce3a1390f7496f68fe242e1deefe0