By John Oliver Mason
Robin’s Bookstore, Philadelphia’s oldest remaining independent bookstore, prides itself on selling books the big chains don’t carry — books on politics from farthest left to farthest right, new age and the occult.
But at the end of this month, Robin’s will go out of business.
“What we have,” said owner Larry Robin, 66, recently, “is the doughnut. If you made a pyramid of book sales, and punched out the center, that’s what the chains sell. We sell the doughnut, what’s left after you’ve gotten rid of the bestsellers.”
A few weeks later, he announced that except for some book-related activities upstairs, including sale of used books, the store will shut down.
Larry Robin’s grandfather, David Robin, opened Robin’s in 1936, and his father, Herman, and uncle Morris, soon joined him.
“It was during the Depression,” Larry Robin says, “and my father’s job was to sit by the compactor in the paper yard and pull out magazines that were resalable.” To this day, the store has been selling back-issue magazines at a discount.
‘From erotica to Mao’
Robin’s, at 108 S. 13th St., has hosted readings and signings by authors visiting the Philadelphia area, as well as writers’ workshops, “The Life of The Poet” classes by poet Leonard Gontarek, “The Philadelphia Fantastic Authors and Editors Series” for writers of science fiction and the Celebration of Black Writing.
“We have a great community of black writers,” says Robin.
Robin’s supported all the movements in the ‘60s — civil rights, black power, feminism and experimental literature. “
We had the books,” says Robin, “that others would not carry,” including works by black authors and the beat poets — “everything from erotica to Mao, from small political magazines to anti-war and rock posters.
“We were open 14 hours a day, and you could always find someone to argue politics or literature with.”
The big chains, says Robin, “have destroyed the business … They’ve made the independent bookstore impossible to operate. They do not make money selling books; they make a lot through promotional allowances.”
A book chain could lose money selling a book, he adds, but make a profit from promoting the book.
The same holds true, says Robin, with the online booksellers.
The real money for the online booksellers, he says, is from the banner ads that cross the computer screen.
There’s still time to visit Robin’s, and take advantage of large discounts, until the store shuts down for good on Jan. 31.
