Copperfield's Books, the independent bookstore based in Sebastopol that has downsized several of its stores in recent years, is opening a new store in Marin County.
The new location in San Rafael will span 7,000 square feet. Taylor Maid Farms, also based in Sebastopol, will run a cafe inside the bookstore, the companies announced Thursday.
"It's a really exciting thing for Copperfield's," said Paul Jaffe, co-owner of the bookstore chain. "We haven't opened up a completely new store for many many years."
Copperfield's has long been interested in opening a store in San Rafael. Over the past two years it reduced the footprint of its stores in Montgomery Village, Healdsburg, Napa and Calistoga, and closed the Sebastopol location where it sold used and rare books. As it reduced the physical footprint of its stores, the company kept the bookshelves and fixtures in a 45-foot bin behind its warehouse.
"We've been storing them up," Jaffe said. "I just knew that in creating a more sustainable business, it would allow us to grow from that space if we had an opportunity."
The San Rafael store will open in November.
Copperfield's has about 95 employees, a number that remained constant even as its stores became smaller, Jaffe said. It will employ 10 to 12 in San Rafael.
"Although we had dramatically less square footage, it really didn't impact our sales," Jaffe said.
Jaffe approached Taylor Maid about the collaboration because he likes the company's business practices and thought it would be a good fit, he said.
Independent bookstores may be benefitting from the demise of the Borders chain of bookstores and a growing community interest in supporting local companies, Jaffe said. And while competition from ebooks is still strong, the meteoric rise of that sector is slowing down, he said.
"It goes to show there seems to be a little bit of a renaissance in independent bookstores these days," Jaffe said.
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