BookCourt Bookstore - Brooklyn NY

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Virtual Tour

History:

BookCourt was established as an independent neighborhood bookstore in the Fall of 1981. 30+ years later, it's Brookyn's family-run, literary mainstay, offering an expansive inventory, the most competitive book discounts in NYC, and one of the top events series in the country. In 2012, The Village Voice hailed BookCourt as Best Bookstore 2012.

• 1981 - (Sept. 12) Henry Zook & Mary Gannett open BookCourt in the 163 Court Street storefront location.
• 1986 - Store inventory and sales become computerized, which at the time was a big deal. 
• 1990 - Expansion #1: Downstairs, into what had been a dirt-floor basement in the 163 Court Street location.
• 1996 - Expansion #2: 161 Court Street. Neighboring building is taken over and BookCourt becomes a double-storefront. Prior to this, 161 Court existed as a Flower Shop called Albert's. A large greenhouse sat vacant behind 161 Court Street for the following twelve years.
• 2008 - (Oct. 8) Expansion #3: The Greenhouse opens. After removing the old greenhouse, a brand new extension behind the 161 Court storefront location was built, this time adding two thousand square feet of additional store space. The new construction, referred to asThe Greenhouse, allows space for our events series.

The goal has always been to provide our customers with a wide variety of titles including many university and small press books, along with genuine customer service, seldom found online or at any corporate model bookstore.

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The Owners in 1981

Staff:

Our staff are the most dedicated, knowledgeable booksellers in NYC, who thrive on discussing, recommending, and pairing customers with the right books, and developing solid customer servcice relationships.

Chad Bunning (GM / Human Resources)
Bonnie Chau (Bookseller)
Anna Cory-Watson (Book Club Host)
Jack Dorkey (Bookseller)
Stephen Gambello (Bookseller)
Mary Gannett (Owner & Buyer)
Sam Gold (Bookseller)
Thomas Jory (Finance)
Marissa Levien (Bookseller)
Isabel Parkey (Bookseller)
Peter Schmitz (Bookseller)
Christien Shangraw (Manager)
John Sherman (Bookseller)
Ryan Strong (Bookseller / Inventory)
Glenn Tranter (Bookseller)
Andrew Unger (Manager)
Lauren Wallach (Manager / Kids & YA Events)
Henry Zook (Owner & Buyer)
Zack Zook (Events & Development)

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The Greenhouse