Independent bookstores across the US are laying off employees and scrambling to stay afloat after closing their doors to prevent spread of the coronavirus

• As the coronavirus outbreak grinds US business and commerce to a halt, independent bookstores - long struggling in an uphill battle against the rise of Amazon and e-books - are fearing the worst.
• On Monday, Powell's Books in Portland and McNally Jackson in New York City "temporarily laid off" a collective 400 employees, leaving many without paychecks and benefits.
• Business Insider spoke with several independent bookstores around the country who expressed anxiety and fear about keeping their companies afloat as the coronavirus wages on.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

When staffers of the independent bookstores Powell's Books and McNally Jackson woke up on Monday morning, they were still gainfully employed, upcoming shift still marked on their calendars.

However, that quickly changed by Monday evening, when a collective 400 staffers across the two beloved stores were laid off en masse. The staffers joined the growing legion of the jobless as companies around the US struggle to stay afloat amid widespread closures in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.

For many independent bookstores - which operate within an already much-beleaguered industry facing the rise of Amazon and e-books - owners are now forced to resort to extreme measures as the virus continues to roil the nation. As some attempt to drum up sales through alternative methods like curbside pickup and hand deliveries, others are taking more drastic measures.

Mass layoffs at the indie bookstore darlings

News of the layoffs at McNally reverberated quickly on Twitter on Monday evening, where shocked employees took to the platform to share their fates, prompting store enthusiasts and members of the literary community to band together in support of the store.

McNally Jackson made a public statement about the layoffs via Instagram later that night, writing it was the "most difficult decision the bookstore has ever faced." In the post, the bookseller explained its decision to close its eight stores in New York City in a move that would effectively lay off staffers and leave them with just one week of pay.

"Facing down a massive, unprecedented loss in revenue, in consultation with the union we have temporarily laid off employees until the store is able to reopen," McNally Jackson wrote in the post. "We are maintaining staff health insurance for the time being so there is no disruption for medical coverage, and working to extend this coverage as long as we can."

Meanwhile, similar challenges were afoot over in Portland, Oregon, where Powell's was preparing to announce the closure of its five locations through March 31, writing in a statement it felt it could no longer "honor the social distancing guidelines presented by the CDC."

In an email sent to employees and obtained by Oregon Live, Powell's human resources director Michelle Afroso said the company was forced "to take immediate steps to scale back the company," adding she anticipates it will take "several months" to return to normal business levels.

McNally Jackson and Powell's did not respond to Business Insider request for comment.

Though fans of both stores quickly set up fundraising sites and pages to support employees, some former staffers remain wary.

'We're nervous, we're anxious'

Elsewhere around the country, independent bookstore owners told Business Insider they are holding out hope they can persevere through business slumps caused by the outbreak, though their collective concern was palpable.

Daven Ralston, co-owner of Charm City Books in Baltimore, Maryland, said that while she's trying to stay optimistic, she's concerned about the future of the store, which opened October 2019. Beyond a hit to book sales, closing stores will also contribute to the loss of event space rentals, a major revenue stream for her company.

"We're nervous, we're anxious," she said, noting that the store is currently open for pick-up only and is prohibiting browsing. "We're generally feeling anxious just because there are a lot of things that are undetermined right now."

Others, like Lyn Roberts of Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi - a state which, as of Wednesday afternoon, had just 34 confirmed cases, compared to more than 2,600 in New York, according to the CDC - are bracing themselves for the worst. While the store is still currently open, Roberts said she has started reducing hours and is preparing for an imminent closure.

"Mississippi still only has a few cases and not in this area yet - 'yet' is the operative word," she said. "Our plans are fluid. If you'd ask me four days ago what we're doing my decision would be different."

In California, policies were changing so rapidly on Monday afternoon that just 30 minutes after Business Insider spoke with Skylight Books' general manager Mary Williams, city policies and "shelter-in-place" mandates required the store to close.

"That gives us a lot of uncertainty as far as the financial health of the bookstore and how long we can pay our staff and pay our all bills. It's nerve-racking," Williams said while the store was still open to the public.

Communities rally around bookstores

Despite the doom and gloom, Ralston, the co-owner of Charm City Books in Baltimore, said she has been heartened by overwhelming support from Baltimore residents who rushed to purchase books online after the store closed for business.

"There's been a really incredible response from our community in terms of showing up and ordering things online like gift cards and books," Ralston said during a break between hand-delivering orders.

This support is also being felt in places like Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the owners of Literati bookstore took to Twitter on Monday to thank shoppers for a massive increase in online orders after owners announced they would temporarily close their doors.

"It's been a pretty neat response, but the concern is that's a spike and an anomaly and if this drags on that support will fade and we'll really start to feel the pinch," Ralston said.

In Ohio, the circumstances have led independent bookstores to band together to try to find solutions, according to Gary Lovely, events and media manager for the Book Loft in downtown Columbus.

"I don't think a lot of people are typically prepared for something like this to happen. We all have some sort of disaster insurance, but this is not something any of us have a plan for," Lovely told Business Insider. "[The bookstore employees have] been speaking with each other about how to get through it together. If anything, we've found a real sense of community."

Ralston echoed Lovely and said the indie bookstores in Baltimore cultivated friendships long before the coronavirus outbreak, providing a sense of solidarity amid virus-related hardships. She added that digital platforms are playing a significant role in helping bookstores stay connected to their communities, even amid quarantines, allowing shops like hers to continue to stream events and reading hours remotely.

"In these times, I think people are always turning to storytellers to help us get through it, whether to take our mind off it or to create creative ways to wrestle with it and manage it and learn more about it," Ralston said. "In times of crisis, people turn to entertainers and storytellers to help them cope and maintain positivity."

UPDATE: This weekend, we received 700+ web orders at https://t.co/ihLmVudBJ6. We normally get 5-10 a day. Needless to say, your support helps keep us going. We are processing these as fast as we can. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

- Literati Bookstore (@LiteratiBkstore) March 16, 2020