By Alex Israel
Nancy Bass Wyden, owner of the Strand Bookstore, gave an update about the store’s upcoming opening at 450 Columbus Avenue between 81st and 82nd Streets to Community Board 7 on Tuesday night.
She described the history of the business, which was founded by her grandfather in 1927, passed on to her father, then on to her following his death in 2018. “We’ve beaten the odds and survived and thrived thanks to our book-loving community, my family’s hard work, and our wonderful staff,” she said.
“We can’t haul 18 miles of books up here, but we’re going to have a huge selection that’s curated for the West Side community,” she said to cheers from the audience. “We’re going to bring as much of the Strand downtown to your community.”
The Strand at Columbus Avenue plans to host events, lectures, discussions, story-time for kids (11 a.m. on weekends), and feature an astronomy theme as homage to the nearby Hayden Planetarium.
“We’ll have a big kids section, and we’re going to do an astronomy theme that’s kind of an homage to the planetarium,” she said.
Last we checked, it’s expected to open this month, though the store hasn’t released the exact date.
Bass Wyden recently filmed a brief video tour of the store on Twitter:
Special sneak preview of @strandbookstore at Columbus Ave! The space was previously occupied by a wonderful bookstore, so we’re really looking forward to making this space our own. So much to do! 📖 #indiebookstore pic.twitter.com/wrbDO0EYDC
— Nancy Bass Wyden (@nancybasswyden) February 24, 2020
Photo by Howard.
This is such great news!
It looks like they’re keeping a lot of the layout and even furnishings of Book Culture — which is great. I think the space worked well; the business just didn’t. I hope the kids section continues to have cool stuff and some toys to go with the books. But either way, looks very hopeful.
So excited!!!
OH GOD!!!! I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!
Yes!
Will be great to have the Strand uptown and I expect real pros manning the cash/info desk (one of the reasons I stopped using the previous store).
I worked at Strand for exactly 1 day in college. You had to take a test to get a job. I never picked up my check, so they owe me with interest big time!
Unfortunately, they will not be buying used/antique books at this location and unless you have hundreds for offer, they won’t pick up…you’ll still have to go downtown. Otherwise, everything about the new store sounds promising!
I can’t wait for another Strand. I’ll be there.