What follows is a diary of how COVID-19 has affected one locally owned, independent bookstore located just outside Columbus, Ohio. I started keeping a diary, just to keep track of day-to-day adjustments to this unfolding crisis. It now seems like a useful guide, revealing what one small business is doing to adapt to a pandemic.
Effective March 24 through April 6, Gramercy Books will be closed to walk-in traffic, in compliance with Ohio Governor DeWine’s stay at home order. Booksellers will continue to process your online orders from the safety of their homes. We’ll continue to offer free shipping on orders of $25 or more. And we will continue to engage with you every day.
We now have the gift of time: to read to each other, to read for ourselves. Gramercy Books is keeping our doors open to offer refuge when you need a change of scenery. We also have free shipping for purchases over $25 and curbside pickup. We’re here to take your calls, questions, and orders for books, games, puzzles, and more.
To kick off the new year, Gramercy Books will host a panel of serious readers—an author, library associate, and book critic moderated by yours truly—talking about their favorite book(s) of 2019, and those titles they’re most looking forward to this year. Here are my 2019 favorites and those books I am most excited about in early 2020.
The Gramercy Books staff has scoured the store! Here’s their list of books for all ages and interests during this holiday season. Don’t forget Bexley Holiday Hop (December 8th) with 25% off all calendars that day, and our December 12th birthday party (we’re 3!!) with 20% off everything in the store, our “grand merci” for your loyal support!
Small Business Saturday is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses and communities across the country. Founded by American Express in 2010 at the height of the economic recession, this day is celebrated each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Did you know that October is the single biggest book month of the year? It seems a good month to feature a handful of highly anticipated releases for a variety of reading tastes.
If only there were objective criteria to establish the qualities possessed exclusively by a small handful of works deemed "classics." I googled several questions trying to arrive at an answer. I asked: What defines a classic novel?
In March of 2018, Gramercy’s canine mascot, Wally, picked his first recommendation for a new monthly pick we call #WallyReads. Let’s look at Wally’s 2019 picks, to date, and I’ll share a bit about why he/we picked them.
Meet master storyteller Louis Bayard, Gramercy’s featured author for our first Prosecco and Prose literary series to be held at Giuseppe’s Ritrovo on May 15th from 5 to 7 pm. In Courting Mr. Lincoln, Bayard uses vivid, witty and exquisite prose to bring the young Abraham Lincoln to life.
