Pop-up indie bookstore takes over failed Borders space

Independent bookstores have struggled for years against giant contenders such as Borders and Barnes & Noble, so Borders’ bankruptcy filing earlier this year was a significant event for countless indie literature fans. It seems particularly fitting, then, to see Fleeting Pages use a closed Borders store to create a pop-up independent bookstore designed to reaffirm the love of indie writing and publishing once again. Beginning earlier this month, Fleeting Pages took over a failed Borders store in Pittsburgh and filled it with independent and self-published literature of all kinds for a month. A variety of furniture was brought in to supplement the bookshelves remaining there, and volunteers have been staffing the shop, which also hosts myriad events, readings and workshops. “The idea is a result of a few things; the toll taken on local booksellers by big box bookstores, a concern for the cultural effects of big box stores in both their existence and their failure, a general frustration with the model of the publishing industry, and a great appreciation for independent and self-published works of all kinds, as well as for those who create them,” the store’s website explains. We’ve seen plenty of pop-up retail efforts over the years, but this may just be the first instance we’ve come across of a small, independent effort taking over the remains of a large, national competitor. Indie retailers around the globe, in books and otherwise: Be inspired! Spotted by: Jim Stewart