CLEVELAND — Saturday is Indie Bookstore Day across the U.S. and Northeast Ohio booksellers are getting in on the celebrations with a special promotion.
Max and Alicia Frazier, owners of Black Cat Books & Oddities in Medina, joined Danielle Wiggins on 3News GO! on Saturday morning to talk about Indie Bookstore Day and explain the importance of shopping local.
"Indie bookstores are an integral part of communities," Alicia Frazier said. "We give back about 30% of revenue to our local economies. When you think of Amazon, one of our biggest competitors, they sell books for under list price. They only give back about 5% back to the local community. So we're really part of community and they're just really important to keep around."
To celebrate Indie Bookstore Day, Black Cat and more than a dozen other local bookstores are offering "Indie Passports." The passports are for sale at all participating stores on Saturday.
In the Cleveland area, passport holders then have until May 31 to visit 10 out of the 15 stores to receive an exclusive discount. For example, Black Cat is offering 15% off an entire book purchase. No purchase is necessary at the stores in order to have the passport stamped.
In the Akron area, six bookstores are offering Indie Passports. Shoppers who visit all five stores will be entered into a drawing to win gift cards to each store.
Black Cat is also offering exclusive giveaways to mark Indie Bookstore Day. The first 40 guests will receive a free Black Cat tote bag or T-shirt and an exclusive coupon, with more prize giveaways every hour starting at 11 a.m.
Here are all the bookstores participating in the Indie Passport program:
Cleveland Passport
- Appletree Books, Cleveland
- Black Cat Books & Oddities, Medina
- Clevo Books, Cleveland
- Corner of the Sky, Cleveland
- Browsing Room, Cleveland
- Elizabeth's Bookshop, Akron
- Fireside Book Shop, Chagrin Falls
- Index Coffee & Books, Cleveland
- Learned Owl, Hudson
- Loganberry Books, Cleveland
- Mac's Backs, Cleveland Heights
- ThirdSpace Reading Room, Cleveland
- Visible Voice Books, Cleveland
- Walls of Books, Parma
- Trust Books, Akron
Akron Passport
- Black Cat Books & Oddities, Medina
- Elizabeth's Bookshop, Akron
- Learned Owl, Hudson
- Shelf Life, Cuyahoga Falls
- Thrifty Owl, Northfield
You can watch the full interview with Mark and Alicia Frazier in the video player at the top of this page.