Tell us a little about yourself and your indie bookstores, Robert’s books & bob’s beach books:
RP: I opened Robert’s Bookshop 38 (or so) years ago. A story in itself. I had planned on being open several evenings a week, continuing my construction business full time. Well, that idea quickly disappeared. Took no time at all to learn I truly enjoyed buying books. It was, and still is, great fun. I also found I enjoy dealing with the public. Trying to engage people in talking about books, or most anything else, was a surprising benefit of having my shop. In particular, I have met some wonderful people. World War 2 vets, Jay Leno, David Ogden Stires (hope I spelled it right), etc. Everyone has a story. My shop has evolved from one small building to a block long, block deep conglomeration with over 200,000 books on the shelves, & ??? in storage. Eventually I wanted to also sell new books. The result is Bob’s Beach Books. I had intended it to be a casual buy-a-book-to-read-at-the-beach shop. It was pretty much floundering until my eldest daughter, Diana, took it over. She totally turned it around. Little experience at retail, or with books, she just dived in and made it work. Of course, I already knew she was an amazing person. Our youngest, Emily, is taking over managing Robert’s. Worth mentioning that my wife, Margaret, is the only reason we were able to have the stores. She paid bills and supported the family for years. Best guess, it took nearly 7 years for RBS to become self supporting.
What kind of reading trends do you see with your customers?
RP: While there was an obvious downturn in book sales in the past, as electronic readers of all types became popular, that trend seems to have reversed. We are as busy as we ever were, including sales to owners of all types of e-readers.
What other services/products do you provide for your customers?
RP: We have web pages for both shops. We list on our own page, as well as through Biblio.com. While we have discussed among ourselves putting all of our inventories online, we haven’t do so, or felt the need. Primarily we list more expensive, fragile, and books with out-of-town topics.
What do you foresee for the future of indie bookstores?
RP: The future of independent shops would seem to depend on how the mega sellers (eg. amazon) are dealt with, and how small shops keep their presence in the minds of the public. Indies need to be present and accessible to the public as an alternative to the internet offerings Joe Q sees constantly. The ability for the customer to physically hold the book before purchase is a tremendous advantage, if that experience is conveyed to any potential purchaser.
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Article originally Published in the Summer 2026 Issue