Millennials And Gen Z Are Making Bookstores Cool Again
Bookstores almost became a thing of the past, but since the pandemic, book sales have been up 13% year-over-year. While some businesses were forced to permanently close their doors, more…
372284 01: Copies of author J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series story books sit in a bookstore July 6, 2000 in Arlington, Va. Rowling’s fourth book, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” is due for release just after midnight on July 8. (Photo by Alex Wong/Newsmakers)
Bookstores almost became a thing of the past, but since the pandemic, book sales have been up 13% year-over-year. While some businesses were forced to permanently close their doors, more than 100 bookstores opened up. They have the younger generations to thank for that.
- Gen Z is everywhere on TikTok discussing the latest book trends
- Meanwhile, millennials are “nostalgic for the big-box bookstores they grew up with.”
Krystine Batcho, a researcher of nostalgia, told “Insider” that, "nostalgia is a refuge, as people turn to the feelings of comfort, security, and love they enjoyed in their past." So it makes sense why bookstores had a revival during the pandemic when everything felt so uncertain.
As for Gen, “the bookstores of the '90s are a symbol of a wistful pre-social media time they never got to experience.” Additionally, Gen Z has been taking to TikTok to talk about what books they’re reading while building a connection. The same way bookstores used to do for teens in the early 2000s.
