422 New Indie Bookstores Opened in 2025

2025 was the best year for independent bookstores in two decades. The American Booksellers Association reported 422 new indie bookstores opened, up 31% year over year, and indie bookstore count is up roughly 70% over its 2020 floor.

The growth is concentrated in genre-specialist shops. There are now more than 75 dedicated romance bookstores in the United States, some of which didn't exist three years ago. Waterstones is opening 10 stores per year in the UK on the strength of romance and romantasy demand.

For indie authors, the practical change is that wholesale distribution matters again in a way it didn't in 2018. Direct-to-consumer through Amazon was the whole game for a while. Now there's a parallel channel that requires a wholesale relationship and a willingness to do consignment.

The mechanics:

• IngramSpark wholesale discount. The default is 40%, returnable. If you set it lower or non-returnable, indie buyers will pass. The 40% returnable is the minimum to be findable in their ordering systems.
• Bookshop.org affiliate listings. Independent bookstores sell through Bookshop.org, and your title needs to be discoverable there. IngramSpark distribution gets you in.
• Consignment relationships. Local stores will often take 5 to 10 copies on consignment from a local author. The conversion is in the relationship, not the email.
• Genre-fit matters more than name recognition. A romance-only bookstore will stock a no-name author with a strong cover before they'll stock a thriller bestseller.

The indie store revival is also a reminder that distribution is a strategy, not just a checkbox. The Big Five own physical chain bookstore placement. Indie authors who can't get into Barnes & Noble can absolutely get into Loyalty Bookstore in DC, Tombolo in St. Pete, or any of the new romance stores. That stack of 422 doors didn't exist a year ago.