Bookshop Santa Cruz Wants to Pick Up Where Amazon has Dropped Out

One of the area's oldest independent bookstores, Bookshop Santa Cruz, wants to pick up where the world's largest bookseller, the online giant Amazon, is leaving off.

The store at 1520 Pacific Ave. has offered to pick up the California online sellers that Amazon has dropped and pay them a 5 percent commission for books they sell on their websites.

In a letter to customers, the shop called Gov. Jerry Brown's new state budget and its tax on online sellers "a hard-fought victory for local bricks and mortar bookstores, pharmacies, shoe stores, bike shops and other local retailers."

Owner Casey Coonerty Protti – who is Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty's sister and County Supervisor Neal Coonerty's daughter – says the new tax will put online stores on equal footing with their street-bound competition.

Thursday Amazon sent out letters dropping its California partners who earned money for charities and businesses by referring clients from their websites to Amazon. 

Already four or five have asked Prottis to join up with the local store's website, www.bookshopsantacruz.com, instead.

"We feel like we didn't want it to be self-serving," said Protti. "But there are people out there going what am I going to do now? We wanted to help them out.

"We've always had an affiliate program. It's been there, but because Amazon has resources and technological prowess to make it super-easy for people, I think people went the super-easy route. We've always had it and want to fight this battle. If you want to raise funds for schools and these things, why not go with your local book store?"

The store has fought to stay independent for 45 years. It was one of the first in the country to encourage readers to sit down and have coffee and read a book in the store before buying. Or not buying. 

When Richard Nixon wrote his autobiography, then owner sold it by the pound, as if it were full of baloney. 

It survived the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake by selling out of tents for almost a year, and it staved off the threat from chain store Borders, which left town last year.