Babbo's Books beating the odds

Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNew York

March 31, 2008

Leonora Stein hopes her neighbors share her appetite for literature, and so far it seems they do because she's still in business.

For more than a year her used bookstore, Babbo's Books, has survived in a heated $90 billion book market in which independent shops like hers struggle to compete with big-box booksellers and online retailers.

"If I hadn't started breaking even quickly I would have gone under," she says. "As luck would have it, the neighborhood has supported it."

On a good week, the Brooklyn store makes $1,500 in sales -- just enough to cover expenses.

An English and creative writing graduate from Bard College, Stein, 25, is a big-time fiction reader, currently thumbing through four novels. Her motivation for the store was simple: "I saw a need [for the store] because I needed it."

Stein's monthly sales barely cover personal living costs; she lives with her parents. But one perk is that her commute to Babbo's at 242 Prospect Park West is a convenient five blocks.

"I'm joining the new class of people my age living with my parents," she laughs. "But I probably wouldn't be able to [own my own business] otherwise." Stein knows that in order to keep the 500-square-foot-store growing she needs to become more Web savvy: "My biggest competitor is probably the Internet."

Babbo's Books (named after a nickname for her father) can be bought online at www.alibris.com, a Web reseller of books. Web sales are slow however, she only sells five books online each month, but she hopes to develop her own site this year and eventually earn as much online as she does in her store.

Another goal is to tap into a specialty market for books, like classical literature, travel or art.

"One business class I took told me I have to have a niche," she says. "I sell pretty much everything."