Bastarache--a 53-year-old bald man with a thin gray ponytail and matching gray beard-- loves the diverse and arty neighborhood. Cars blaring mariachi music zoom past art galleries and East African restaurants, and the neighborhood boasts an even mix of Asians, blacks, and whites.
"There's no majority or minority here," he says. That's why he chose this neighborhood for his shop--the only general interest bookstore in the entire South End.
Bastarache spends six days a week behind the counter of the cozy bookstore (he's the owner and sole employee), greeting customers and directing them to books, whether it's a new anthology by a Northwest poet, a classic sci-fi paperback, or a rare book protected by plastic wrapping. He hosts poetry readings, and the store is part of the neighborhood's monthly Beat Walk music event. He also has an annual sale honoring the eruption of Mount St. Helens. (The mountain lost 20 percent of its peak in the May 18, 1982 eruption, he explains, so books are 20 percent off.)
This year's sale, however, will be his last. Sadly, Take Another Look Books will close for good in September. When Bastarache's store is gone, South End residents won't have a place in which to browse a variety of books or gather for readings (though there are a few specialty shops, such as online automotive book company books4cars.com, and Life Enrichment, an African-American specialty bookstore).
"I'm disappointed, and I'm trying to deal with other people's disappointment," he says, fiddling with his trademark overalls. "People see a real need for a physical bookstore. There's a odd synergy inside a bookstore."
The news has trickled through the neighborhood (a guest editorial by Christopher Jarmick in the Beacon Hill News took care of that). People keep stopping in to see if they can do anything to save the small shop, with its rough-hewn bookshelves, nook of secondhand furniture, and displays of art from local elementary-school students.
Bastarache is plagued by "if only" thoughts. If only he had a business partner with deep pockets. If only his store were half a block north, in the heart of Columbia City's retail core. If only he had the energy to stay open late, and seven days a week.
There are several factors working against Bastarache's independent bookstore: He battles public perception that the South End is a den of drugs and violence, and the perception that it's no place to find a bookstore; he faces fierce competition from bookstore behemoths Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders; and the economy as a whole has been shoddy.
For starters, there isn't much Bastarache can do about the economy. "Rents are killers for bookstores," he says. He's selling a lot of books. Sales are growing, but expenses are growing faster. "The money doesn't come in fast enough."
Secondly, Amazon.com and other bookselling giants are tough to compete with.
"There were a lot of independent booksellers that were put out of business by the bigger chain stores," says Thom Chambliss, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association (PNBA). "They used intentionally competitive practices, like building a store two blocks from an independent." According to PNBA's database, nearly 20 percent of independent bookstores have closed in the Pacific Northwest in the last five years (about 200 store closings).
Jamie Lutton of Twice Sold Tales, a used-book store with outlets in Capitol Hill, Fremont, and the University District, has seen many bookstores go out of business. "These little stores are going out all the time."
Barbara Bailey--owner of independent Bailey/Coy Books, a Capitol Hill bookstore for 18 years--feels the competition. "The whole world of bookselling has changed so much. It seems there's maybe half as many independent bookstores as there were 10 years ago," Bailey says. Though Bailey/Coy is well established, Bailey still struggles.
"Amazon.com is making big inroads," Bailey says. "They're offering 30 percent off any book over $15. If I gave 30 percent off, I'd be out of business in five minutes."
Bastarache struggles with Amazon.com too. Online sales used to be 20 percent of his business, but have dropped to 10 percent. Before Amazon and other web-based businesses emerged, people would sell their old books to stores like his, boosting his inventory and making Bastarache a profit. Now people can sell books directly online (often for less than they are worth), cutting out the independent middleman.
Bastarache's third problem has been public perception about his neighborhood. "The image is that this neighborhood is drug- or crime-plagued," he says. He remembers one customer who traveled from Portland to pick up a rare book. When he got to Bastarache's store, the man asked if he was at risk of getting shot. Bastarache shakes his head--the South End might be known as a rough part of town, but according to police statistics, crime is actually down 4.4 percent this year in the South Precinct.
However, some people don't think the South End is a neighborhood full of readers. Before he opened his store, Bastarache tried to convince existing Seattle booksellers to expand to the South End, where he's lived for 13 years. One Belltown bookstore was very blunt when they said no.
"They said, 'People down there don't read,'" Bastarache remembers.
"There are readers everywhere," Twice Sold Tales' Lutton says. (That's true, but it's certainly no coincidence that her stores are set up in three of Seattle's densest neighborhoods.) The problem in the South End is that the population is spread out, and finding customers is more of a challenge, she says.
"There are fewer people to rely on to buy books. People are just not walking by, walking in, and buying a book," she says. "They're going home and playing Nintendo."
Mary Jo Torgeson, manager of the Seattle Public Library Columbia City branch, hopes another bookstore will open in the South End. She doesn't want to have to trek to Borders in SoDo. "But I might have to, because there's nothing out here."
