The American Booksellers Association reported a big increase in the number of book outlets and membership growth in its recently released annual report for 2025. The ABA’s census of independent book retailers showed that 605 new bookstore businesses opened in 2025, while only 65 closed. Of the 605, 399 were storefronts, 106 were pop-ups, 23 were online and 77 were mobile.
The number of stores opening in 2025 was up 87% over the number that opened in 2024.
ABA membership was up 19% in 2025, to 3783 member locations.
The heat in the independent bookstore channel parallels great years for both independent game stores (see “Big Growth in Hobby Games”) and comic stores (see “ICv2 White Paper: Comics“) in 2025, all part of the same consumer phenomenon: consumers are looking for real-world interaction with the communities that independent retailers create and the curated products that they sell.
Source: ICv2
