Strand Bookstore Posts Best Sales Days On Weekend Before Christmas
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - Book sellers may have faced challenges in recent years, but it was a very merry Christmas at one venerable New York City bookshop.
The Strand's vice president, Eddie Sutton, said Thursday the Manhattan shop had the best sales day in its 86-year history on Saturday, and then again on Monday.
He says Saturday's gross sales beat the previous record, set last year, by 12 percent. Monday's were a hair more. And Tuesday's sales were 25 percent bigger than the best previous Christmas Eve.
Strand Bookstore Posts Best Sales Days On Weekend Before Christmas
"I mean, this was astounding for us. We were just shocked," Strand owner Fred Bass told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond.
The Strand carries over 2.5 million used, new and rare books and boasts 18 miles of books inside.
The bookstore is also home to one of the most extensive art and architecture book departments anywhere.
Bass said the record sales prove to him that hard-copy books are not a dying breed.
Sutton says one Christmastime customer came in looking to give his girlfriend a book about how to play the harmonica. Sutton says he worried the store might not have one - but it had a few.
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