Strand Bookstore

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The Strand Book Store at 828 Broadway (and 12th St)

Strand Bookstore is an independent bookstore located in New York City's Greenwich Village. It was founded in 1927 by Benjamin Bass. The store is famous among New Yorkers for its giant collection of publishers overstock, used, rare, and out-of-print books, as well as the chaos on and around its shelves. The store houses the city's largest collection of rare books, and is also a contender for the title of world's largest used bookstore (its major competitor in this regard being Powell's Books of Portland, Oregon). "18 Miles of Books" is its (present) slogan. Fred and Benjamin Bass gave jobs in the store to many Lower East Side artists, including Patti Smith (who claimed not to have liked the experience because it "wasn't very friendly")^[1] and Tom Verlaine, both rock artists of the 70's.

A family-owned business with more than 200 employees, the Strand was opened by Benjamin Bass in 1927 on 4th Avenue's Book Row. His son Fred took over the business in 1956 and soon moved the store to the present location at the corner of East 12th Street and Broadway, where the store occupies three and a half floors, using half a floor for offices and one additional floor as warehouse space. Fred's daughter Nancy, is co-owner of the store, and is also married to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.

In addition to the main bookstore, Strand has two additional locations, both in Manhattan: the Strand Book Annex located at 95 Fulton Street in the Financial District, and the Central Park Kiosk open on fairweather days at the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 60th Street.

In 2002, USA Today cited Strand as one of the 10 best used bookstores in America^[2].