The 2nd annual North Texas Indie Bookstore Crawl is officially underway, bringing together more than 30 local, independent bookstores and the bookworms who frequent them.
Katie Lemieux is a co-owner of Talking Animals Books in Grapevine, which is spearheading the event. She told NTX Now's Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning that it's an opportunity for book lovers explore the unique character and communities of each store.
"What we've really learned about this customer, is that they are not interested in a one-stop-shop," Lemieux said. "They're interested in what we're offering them beyond the product."
She said while Amazon offers books at the lowest price, which is impossible for independent sellers to compete with, local bookstores offer distinct, third spaces.
"I think people are really leaning into the idea that, 'I'm getting value out of going to this place, there are things that I can do here beyond just buying a book,'" Lemieux said. "So that's what we all are really looking to do, is how can we give the customer the experience that they want?"
Here's how the book crawl works:
- Pick up a passport from any participating bookstore or print one off online
- Visit each of the stores listed on the passport to receive a stamp — no purchase necessary!
- Return your stamped passport via the QR code provided by 11:59pm on Aug. 31 to be entered into a raffle featuring gift cards and other prizes donated by participating bookstores. Each bookstore you visit during August will earn you an additional raffle entry.
Lemieux says the idea for the book crawl was thrown out "on a whim" last year, but now, she meets with other local bookstores on a regular basis to talk about how they can continue collaborating.
"We're not competing," she said. "We all kind of do something a little bit differently."
"We're doing what we do," she continued. "It may not be what another store is doing, but they're in a totally different region. They have a different customer."
Lemieux said she hopes the crawl will help people discover new bookstores they've never been to before and unique third spaces.
Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning are the hosts of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org or Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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