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Bookstore trims back to survive

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNewYork

August 21, 2006

Left Bank Books owner Kim Herzinger. (amNewYork photo/ Lane Johnson / August 20, 2006)

Left Bank Books on 304 West 4th St. is about as classic and rare a find as a 1918 first edition copy of Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Poems," which, by the way, can be purchased at the West Village bookstore for a mere $4,000.

"It is absolutely true that stores like this are dying," said owner Kim Herzinger, sitting at his desk amid stacks and shelves of some 10,000 books. He cited Internet vendors and soaring rent as the primary weeding-out factors for merchants like him. "A used book shop or rare book shop just can't support the rent. It has to be partially a labor of love," he said.

Indeed, passion for classic literature and reading -- coupled with Herzinger's business strategy -- has kept this neighborhood institution alive. The store first opened in 1992 under the name Bookleaves (which is still painted on the front window).

The original owner, Arthur Farrier, still works part-time at the store. When Herzinger took over the shop in 2005, the retired literature professor narrowed its offerings to modern first edition literature, art and photography books. Those books, he said, not only sell better, they tend to be the priciest, too.

"When a business is as small as this you have to focus very centrally. Don't even try to satisfy everyone. You just can't do it," he said. "If you have quality books you can sell them."

Not to mention, the copies found at Left Bank Books are not available at most big-box bookstores. "I have the first edition or the best copy. At Barnes and Noble you can get the paperback version of 'The Adventures of Augie Marsh,' sure. But you have to come to me for the first edition," said Herzinger.

Most first edition books at the store average between $200 and $300, Herzinger said. The shop sells between 70 and 100 books per week.

Left Bank Books also serves as common grounds for avid readers, an informal place for discussion and debate.

"The people who come here want to talk about books and writers," he said. "It's a combination of old villagers since the days of John Reed," he laughed, "and new, younger people who may not be as interested but have a lot of money."

For those who can't pop in, Herzinger is selling about 900 of his books online at abebooks.com.

"I held off [being on the Internet] for a really long time," he said. "But you have to be on the Web."

As for the 400-square foot shop (the size of most studio apartments), Herzinger has three-and-a-half years left on his 5-year lease. After that, the jury is still out on whether he can keep going with the city's rising rent.

"I know what some other people around here are being asked to pay, and I fear the day," he said. That is, unless, he happened to get his hands on a first edition Shakespeare. "If I had one of those, I wouldn't have to worry anymore."

Farnoosh Torabi is a video correspondent for thestreet.com. amSmallBusiness@gmail.com.