LOUISVILLE’s

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Carmichael’s Bookstore Wins Prestigious National Award

Publishers Weekly magazine has announced that Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky has been selected as this year’s Bookseller of the Year, the single most prestigious award for independent bookstores.  Each year one store in the country is chosen for this honor by a jury of professionals in the book industry.  Stores are judged on their performance in a broad set of criteria including excellence in buying, marketing, customer service, community involvement, management-employee relations, and business operations.

Last year, Carmichael’s celebrated its 30th anniversary as Louisville’s locally-owned, independent bookstore.  The first Carmichael’s store opened in 1978 on Bardstown Road.  A second store, at 2720 Frankfort Avenue in Crescent Hill, opened in 1999.

Carmichael’s is proud to be a family business and to have such deep roots in the community.  Co-owners Carol Besse and Michael Boggs, from whom the store takes its name, started the store in 1978 and continue to manage day-to-day operations.  The store’s current staff of 25 includes their sister, their niece, and their daughter.  

Winning the Bookseller of the Year award puts Carmichael’s in distinguished company and also demonstrates the diversity of the independent bookselling community across the country.  Last year’s winner was Vroman’s in Pasadena, California, a 32,000 square foot store.  Carmichael’s total square footage, including both stores, is just over 2,500 square feet, proving that excellence can be achieved in a small store as well as a large one. Previous Bookseller of the Year winners include Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C., Book People in Austin, Texas, and the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  

Carmichael’s is strengthened through its partnerships with organizations across the city like the Filson Historical Society, the Kentucky Author Forum, and Interfaith Paths to Peace.  The stores are a founding member of the Louisville Independent Business Alliance and strongly support the organization’s “Buy Local First” and “Keep Louisville Weird” campaigns.

Visit their web site: www.carmichaelsbookstore.com