In injury time, the Alibri bookstore, formerly Herder, has saved the match. In early October, it announced its closure and many lamented the loss of an establishment that was about to reach its centenary and had become a mandatory stop for local bibliophiles. Among those affected were the founders of Bookish, a subscription platform like Netflix or Spotify but focused on literary novelties. "It's a historic bookstore in Barcelona and we were saddened by the news," says Tomàs Casals, director of Bookish, in statements to The New Barcelona Post.
For some time, Bookish, focused on the digital world, had plans to open a bookstore in Barcelona, its hometown, with the aim of complementing the experience it offers its users, who receive a surprise book every month, accompanied by reading guides and online activities such as reading clubs or author meetings, even some extra detail, such as a tote bag or a cushion for reading on the beach. The platform was looking for locations when Alibri's closure was announced. They knew it and began to assess whether it made sense to materialize their project there.
The first meeting with the owner, the German publisher Herder, took place in early November. In just over a month, the two parties have met and closed an agreement, exceeding the announced closing date, scheduled for last Monday, December 5. This Friday, they signed the purchase, for an undisclosed amount, making Bookish the new and sole owner of the bookstore. The operation includes the maintenance of the entire staff, made up of about 26 workers, as well as its collection.
Alibri's new stage, two years away from its 100th anniversary, will be a symbiosis with the platform, one will boost its digitalization and the other its physical presence, without forgetting that both do "similar work: recommending books," Casals emphasizes. However, from now on, Bookish subscribers will have a space where they can find more literary novelties or attend in person activities that until now were exclusively online.
To achieve this, renovation work will be done to update the bookstore, "without losing its essence", but modernizing a space that had fallen a bit behind. "We want to create the best large-format bookstore in Barcelona, a great cultural center, but also a sustainable and profitable business," Casals emphasizes.
"You'll last four days"
When the founders of Bookish wanted to apply the subscription model used for music or series to books, the publishing sector did not predict anything good for them. "Everyone told us we would last four days," recalls its director, "but the opposite has happened." Founded in 2017, the platform allowed updating proposals that had stopped working, such as that of Círculo de Lectores, which would close shortly after.
The project was born from the hand of Nam Nguyen and Tomàs Casals, two entrepreneurs who had already tested the market with Tiching, an online platform that offers resources for teachers and students in Spain and Latin America. Created in 2009, it was acquired by the publisher Vicens Vives in 2014.
Bookish is the second project of entrepreneurs Nam Nguyen and Tomàs CasalsFrom the initial bad omens, Bookish has been growing year after year, even more so with the pandemic, a crisis that has benefited sectors such as the book industry, which closed 2020 exceeding pre-pandemic sales and livedin 2021 its best year of the last decade.Launched with an initial investment of 25,000 euros, the startup has received support from the Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals (ICEC) and closed a 160,000 euro round in Dozen Investments.In February of this year, Dozen investors sold their stakes in Bookish to the Tansley group.
Currently, the platform has about 5,000 subscribers. The monthly subscription price is 24.90 euros, with shipping costs included. They work with major publishers, large and small, including Literatura Random House, Alfaguara, Lumen, Libros del Asteroide, Anagrama, Blackie Books, Impedimenta, Sexto Piso, Errata Naturae, Hoja de Lata, and Gatopardo Ediciones. The platform selects a new literary release each month, and users can choose from different modalities, from bestsellers and non-fiction to independent narrative, but the title they receive is a surprise. Likewise, they can unsubscribe at any time and can also pause their subscription if readings accumulate on their nightstand. Looking ahead to 2023, Bookish plans to invest in Alibri, the new leg of the business, and continue growing.