The Lit. Bar

The Lit. Bar
Industry
  • Independent book store
  • Wine bar
Founded2015
FounderNoëlle Santos
Headquarters131 Alexander Avenue, Bronx, New York
Number of locations
1
Area served
South Bronx
Websitehttps://www.thelitbar.com/

The Lit. Bar is an independent book store in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx in New York City, U.S. The store is owned by Bronx native Noëlle Santos, who opened it after being alarmed when she read in 2014 that a Barnes & Noble near Co-op City was going to close: while Manhattan had 90 book stores, the Barnes & Noble branch was the only book store in the Bronx.[1] Santos, who describes herself as "a black Latina female from the community",[2] grew up in the Soundview section of the Bronx.[3] She earned a bachelor's of business/accounting in 2009 and a master’s in human resources management in 2012, both from Lehman College.[4]

Prior to opening her store, Santos had been a business major,[5] but had no experience selling books. In 2019, shortly before the store opened, she told The New York Times, "I had never been inside an independent book store before I decided to open one."[1] In 2015, Santos took an "Owning a Bookstore" course, registered the Lit. Bar brand,[6] and then began to work in local book shops, volunteering her time in return for practical experience running a business.[1] She entered the 2016 New York StartUp! Business Plan Competition, winning second place[7] and using the $7,500 prize money to fund a pop-up book shop at the Bronx Museum of the Arts.[6] At the end of 2016, Santos started a highly successful crowdsourcing campaign on Indiegogo called "Let's Bring a Goddamn Bookstore to the Bronx".[1] The campaign, which featured a video with Santos performing a rap poem she had written,[8] exceeded the $100,000 goal, raising what was variously cited as $170,000 or $200,000.[2][9]

The store opened on April 27, 2019, with an opening ceremony attended by Bronx Borough President Reuben Diaz, who recited some lines from Santos's poem:[2]

Thank you for opening your hearts and helping me show the world what many failed to see, that the Bronx is no longer burning except with the desire to read. And that we thrive just like the indie bookseller that you were told died. The numbers don't lie.

The date was significant for being Independent Bookstore Day, a celebration of the independent bookstores sponsored by the American Booksellers Association on the last Saturday in April.[10]

The 1,700-square-foot (160 m2) store[11] is a combination book store and wine bar; the latter offering higher profit margins to offset the financial risks inherent in the independent book industry. Santos chose the South Bronx as her location to take advantage of the ongoing gentrification of the area, although also recognizing that rising rents due to gentrification are one of the problems facing independent book stores.[5] In a 2019 interview, Santos said that gentrification was a "national epidemic" and admitted that while the Lit. Bar is encouraging it, gentrification of the South Bronx was happening before the Lit. Bar.[12] Santos envisions the store as a place where new residents attracted by the gentrification can interact with the existing South Bronx population. The store features black feminist and local Bronx authors.[11]

  1. ^ a b c d Bellafante, Ginia (April 25, 2019). "A Bookstore, Finally, Comes to the Bronx". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Schiaparelli, Eliot (January 18, 2021). "Noëlle Santos Opens Lit.Bar: Only Bookstore in the Bronx". The Fordham Ram. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  3. ^ King, Dara (January 26, 2024). "In Place of a 'Book Desert,' There is The Lit. Bar". The Science Survey. Bronx, New York. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  4. ^ "Latinx Heritage Month Spotlight: Noëlle Santos". UConn Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills. October 11, 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Baker, Jennifer (March 14, 2017). "The Challenges of Bringing a Bookstore-Bar to the Bronx". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Button, Liz (April 24, 2019). "The Lit. Bar to Open on Independent Bookstore Day: An Exclusive Interview With Noëlle Santos". the American Booksellers Association. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  7. ^ "The New York Public Library Raises a Glass to Celebrate the Winners of the 2016 StartUP! Business Plan Competition, Supported by the Citi Foundation". The New York Public Library. September 12, 2016. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  8. ^ Santos, Noëlle (January 16, 2016). The Bronx is Burning... with Desire to Read (Video). Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  9. ^ Cowles, Charlotte (June 5, 2020). "'The Bronx Is Not Going to Let This Bookstore Close'". The Cut. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  10. ^ "Independent Bookstore Day". the American Booksellers Association. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Durkin, Erin (April 29, 2019). "The literary advocate bringing books back to her south Bronx community". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  12. ^ Penrose, Nerisha (May 22, 2019). "Noelle Santos Had Never Stepped Inside an Independent Bookstore. Now She Owns The Bronx's Only One". Elle. Retrieved August 30, 2024.