[ad_1]
For Simone Blatter, the plan was to move to Europe and open a bookstore. It was early 2021, the global pandemic was still raging, and Williamsburg, the Brooklyn neighborhood she had lived in for 12 years, felt empty.
Like many New Yorkers during the pandemic, Ms. Blatt is out of work and looking for an ambiguous future. “During the pandemic, I’m going for a walk every day,” she said, “just to keep my sanity.”
On one of those walks, she noticed that a vintage clothing store on Driggs Avenue had closed. The “For Rent” sign at the entrance somehow caught her attention. “Something inside of me decided to call the number,” she said.
Her dream—a bookstore—had always felt out of reach in New York. “Obviously, rent prices are high,” she said, “and bookstores don’t make that much money.” But the empty space on Driggs suddenly felt like it was possible.
The good feeling she felt when she walked into the first-floor commercial space of the three-story brownstone was comparable to the good feeling she felt when she met the landlord, Grzegorz Pasternak. “He was very old-fashioned,” she said. “He doesn’t even have an email. I like that about him.”
As Mr. Pasternak took her on a 30-year history tour, Ms. Blatter learned that Mr. Pasternak had owned the designated landmark for decades. “Most of the people who live in this building are artists and creative people,” she said. “I love it. I told him I wanted to open a bookstore, and he was very supportive.”
They both thought it was a good omen that Henry Miller’s childhood home was next door. “After talking to her, I realized right away,” Mr. Pasternak said, “that this space would be a perfect fit for her because it used to have an artsy feel to it. I like that she has experience working in a bookstore, and she’s excited .”
Ms Blatter had a set of keys and permission to visit the space before she signed the lease.
“I would come in every day and meditate and imagine something. It was a really critical period where I asked myself, ‘Wow, am I really going to do this? ” I brought my family, my friends. I felt really good about his trust in me. This experience was unlike any other landlord experience I’ve had in NYC. Usually all they want is yours Money, they don’t really care what you’re doing,” she said with a laugh. “It was an open and trustworthy experience, and it was everything I was looking for.”
Mr. Pasternak has the same opinion. “She wanted a monthly payment,” he said, “so I jumped at the chance and we’re still together.” Rent for the store is $2,500 a month.
Ms. Blatter opened Black Spring Books in April 2021. She has no investors and no loans—she spent savings accumulated during the pandemic, estimated to cost her around $1,000 to put her books on shelves. “It’s all very DIY,” she says. “I really rely on my family and friends.”
The store’s inventory comes from her collection over the years, as well as donations from friends and books inherited from the now-defunct Brasenhead Book Company, where Ms. Blatt worked on the Upper East Side.
“It’s definitely a very eclectic collection,” she said. “Ninety-nine per cent of it is second hand and I have a good collection of rare books too. Mostly modern first editions and some carry-on stuff from the 60s, 70s – Beat Generation stuff. Yes There are cheap things and there are expensive things. I like to keep a little bit of everything.”
Her first sale was to Mr Pasternak – a vintage copy of George Orwell’s 1984. “He bought a $10 book from me for $40,” she said. “He told me it was for good luck. He joked with me, ‘You have to make money so I can make money.'”
$3,150 | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Simone Blatter, 34 years old
Profession: Bookstore owner, teacher and author
About her origin: Ms. Blatter was born in Riga, Latvia, and immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 1 year old. She grew up in Sheepshead Bay and has lived in New York except for a brief stint in Miami. She loves Riga and visits whenever she can: “They call it the Paris of the North.”
at the best bookstore: Ms. Blatter said Spoonbill & Sugartown Books is a longtime favorite bookstore in the neighborhood, and she’s grateful they’ve survived the pandemic. “When you lose these places, you can’t really recover from them. The soul is gone.”
The opening of Black Spring Bookstore coincides with the completion of renovations of two apartments above the store. “I kept asking, ‘So, who’s going to live there?'” she recalls with a wry smile.
She had lived in the same apartment for nearly ten years and wanted to move because the open floor plan didn’t suit her. “It creates a feeling that you never know where you are,” she said. “Like, am I in the bedroom or the kitchen?” She’d tried moving over the years, but couldn’t find the right place. “Either the price is not right or the environment is not right,” she said.
But now she’s found a building she likes — not to mention a landlord.
He explained that the third floor was rented out, but the second floor was still available. Ms. Blatter recalled that after he took her upstairs to tour the apartment, he said: “You know I have to live here, right? I belong in this apartment.”
But by Ms Blatter’s own admission, she is not financially fit to buy a two-bedroom. Still, Mr Pasternak again showed trust. “I didn’t show him any proof of income,” she said. “It’s really an honor system type of agreement, and to me it just seems like an outdated way of doing things — a dying tradition of just taking someone’s word for it. But that’s what I needed. “
For the first time, she has a home workspace, not to mention a washer and dryer. And it’s very close to work. “I live above the bookstore,” she said. “There’s something indescribable about it that I can’t even put a price on. I’m really lucky.”
When she’s not running the store, she teaches a creative writing class or two at NYU each semester, or does her own writing. “I’m surrounded by other writers, artists and languages, so I’m constantly inspired.”
She opens her shop and backyard year-round to writers and other artists, and offers a float to help pay rent. “I have a lot of events, parties, book clubs, movie screenings — all kinds of things,” she said. “That’s what I’ve always wanted. I never wanted to be just a bookseller. I wanted to provide a space for people.”
One of the perks of living above her own shop: She never gets noise complaints when the nights are long.
“The fact that I was able to do this and live like this felt too good to be true,” she said. “I’m just doing my best to enjoy it as much as I can.”
