Strand Bookstore Owner talks about her bookselling life

As told to John O’Connor at FT.com

Nancy Bass Wyden’s father and grandfather used to go on ‘treasure hunts’ for books

The Strand Book Store was started in 1927 by my grandfather, Benjamin Bass, who named it after the famous publishing street in London. He loved literature and used to gravitate towards New York’s Book Row on 4th Avenue, where the bookstores were. He saved $300, got a loan for another $300, and, using his own vast book collection, opened Strand. His first cash register was a cigar box.

The business struggled for years. My father, Fred, came on board when he was 13 because they needed the help. The landlord gave them breaks on rent – that doesn’t happen anymore. My father and my grandfather went everywhere looking for books. They’d climb up four-storey apartment buildings, lug boxes down and cart them back to the store on the subway. It was a treasure hunt. Somehow the business survived, and in 1953 they moved to 12th Street and Broadway.

It was magical growing up in this world. I could pick out any book I wanted. My teachers even asked me for books. I started working here when I was 16, when this neighbourhood was an antiques district. Union Square was considered too dangerous to walk through. There were no chain stores like you see now, but there was a quaintness to it that isn’t here anymore.

Read the full piece at FT.com  It is well worth a read. I found it fascinating especially her comments about selling online.