40 years ago, two bookstores opened in different parts of the country; Borders in Ann Arbor Michigan and Modern Times on 17th and Sanchez streets in San Francisco.
Borders—which grew into a nationwide, corporate bookstore chain—is now closing its remaining 399 stores and laying off over 10,000 employees.
Modern Times Bookstore—an independent and collectively owned business—has faced many social and financial challenges, but is still in business and now operating at a new location, right here on 24th at Florida Street, el corazón, of the La Mission.
It’s been just two months since Modern Times moved out of it’s 3600 square foot location on Valencia at 20th Street, where it had been since 1991. After losing their lease last April they were able to quickly find and reopen at 2919 24th Street, where Ruth Mahaney—a member of the collective since 1973—said they have found a welcoming neighborhood where many of their customers actually live.
“A lot of our customers from Valencia are popping in and saying, ‘Oh, I’m so excited, now you are closer to me,’” she said.
Mahaney said that times have changed since 1991, and that the competitive threat from “big box” retailers like Borders has been overshadowed by online retailers and now the ever more pervasive e-readers, both of which played an active role in the demise of Borders.
“I’m sad to see another brick and mortar shut its doors,” Mahaney said about news of the closure. “I think it’s important to have a place where people can browse and discover new books that they couldn’t online.
Mahaney pointed out that Valencia Street has also changed since 1991, and even though business at the new location hasn’t quite caught up with previous levels, moving to the 24th Street corridor has meant a welcome change of pace.
“Certainly the neighborhood there [on Valencia Street] has been gentrifying for a while, and in some ways, [the new location] feels more like Valencia felt when we first got there—I love the neighborhood,” she said.
Modern Times sells both new and used books and are well known for carrying specialized titles in fields like multicultural literature, social issues, cultural theory and sexual politics.
And while most bookstores only carry a limited amount of titles in Spanish—if any at all—Modern Times has a large selection of books in Spanish.
“What I have noticed here [at the new location] is a greater variety in requests, in terms of books,” said Modern Times’ Spanish book buyer, Graciela Trevisan. “They ask for books on spiritual subjects or specific political issues in Latin America, which shows this is an area that has more Latinos and Latinas that live, work and walk around this area. They know, hear and read about books published in Latin America and Spain.”
Trevisan said that in addition to carrying the works of well-known Spanish-language authors, like García Márquez and Roberto Bolaño, she also seeks out inexpensive books about topics of interest to Latinos, like improving health or learning to speak English.
She added that she works closely with a group of publishers that exclusively distribute Spanish-language books and is always looking for new titles, especially those about gender and LGBT issues, which are easy to find in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and other countries, but not here in the United States.
“I really want to show the diversity of who we are and who our community is, to be able to have books for everyone,” she said.
There is also a Spanish-language book club, “Circulo de Lectoras es de Literura en Español,” that meets every fourth Tuesday at the bookstore.
In August, Trevisan said there will be a reading of “La Sirvienta Y El Luchador,” (The Maid And The Fighter) by Salvadoran writer, Horacio Castellanos Moya.
So far, Mahaney said that the neighborhood has been very supportive, but that the store is not getting the amount of business it did on Valencia Street. She is hoping things will “perk up.”
“We need people to find us again,” she said.