Vibrant literary institution seeks new owner

Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, the oldest feminist bookstore in North America, is up for sale.

Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, a vital part of the Twin Cities feminist and GLBT community for over 37 years, is for sale. Barb Wieser, general manager of Amazon Bookstore for the past 21 years, decided to leave the store to pursue other interests, and another longtime worker also decided she wanted to pursue a different career. After much consideration, the cooperative (Amazon is a worker owned cooperative) decided to sell the store.

Amazon Bookstore was started by two women on the front porch of a living collective in 1970. Soon after, a volunteer collective took over the bookstore and relocated it to a women’s resource center. In 1974, Amazon moved into the first of several storefront locations and became a worker-owned business. Amazon relocated to its current home at 48th & Chicago in 2003.

Besides its continuing existence as the oldest feminist bookstore in North America, in recent years Amazon has also functioned as a Southside neighborhood bookstore, providing a focal point for literary and progressive books and events. The bookstore also greatly increased its children’s section and started have story hour on Saturday mornings. Amazon has an active website, a long-term lease in the up-and-coming 48th & Chicago shopping district, and does many book sales outside the store at conferences and author speaking engagements. For many years, Amazon has provided textbooks for University of Minnesota women’s studies courses and for courses at area colleges.

Since making the announcement that the store is for sale, the cooperative has had several serious inquiries and are hoping to find an individual or a group of individuals that want to carry on the vision of the store or recreate it into a vision of their own. For information about the sale terms, please e-mail Barb Wieser barb@amazonbookstorecoop.com.