Gibert Jeune, which held a prominent place in Parisians hearts, is one of the latest to close. The pandemic is only one pressure on independent bookstores, but some have found ways to survive.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And finally today, we want to tell you about the closing of an iconic bookstore in Paris' Latin Quarter, which has many worried about the pandemic's toll in a city where booksellers have long thrived. Bookshops are considered an essential business and have been allowed to stay open during France's third lockdown. But as NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports, the pandemic is hardly the first threat booksellers have faced.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: The closing of the yellow awninged Gibert Jeune bookstore on Paris' Place Saint Michel was a blow to the Left Bank neighborhood. Teacher Pascale Nedelec says generations of students browsed the outdoor book bins and got their schoolbooks at Gibert Jeune.

PASCALE NEDELEC: When I was a kid, I came here every year at the beginning of the school year to get my textbooks. So I remember that time. And I think it's sad because this is the Quartier Latin. It's just supposed to be a place where you have those old movie theaters and all those bookstores.

BEARDSLEY: As it turns out, the pandemic was the final blow in a series of setbacks for Gibert Jeune in recent decades. The first was when school textbooks began to be provided for free in France in the early aughts. Then the Sorbonne and other schools began opening campuses away from the traditional student neighborhood. There was the disruption of transport strikes and protests, such as the yellow vest movement, and the fire at nearby Notre Dame two years ago. And, of course, there's the perennial threat of Amazon.

Marc Bittore is the head of Gibert Jeune.

MARC BITTORE: (Through interpreter) Our profession is being turned upside down. And Amazon plays a major role in the decline of our activity.

BEARDSLEY: More accurately, Bittore is the general director of Gibert Joseph, which acquired the failing Gibert Jeune chain in 2017. The two separate businesses were founded by competing brothers who took over their father's original bookshop established here on the banks of the Seine in 1888. Still family owned, Gibert Joseph is doing fine, says Bittore, because it knew how to adapt.

BITTORE: (Through interpreter) Many neighborhood bookstores still play an important role and are surviving this Amazon wave pretty well because they are like an anchor in the neighborhood and play a central role in its life.

(Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: Strolling along the Boulevard Saint Michel, Bittore shows me three Gibert Joseph stores in a row - the massive six-story bookstore, the smaller writing-paper and card shop, and the Gibert Joseph record store, which Bittore says is the largest in Europe.

BITTORE: (Speaking French).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking French).

BITTORE: (Speaking French).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: Bittore says another key to their survival is expertise. You need teams that are passionate and real connoisseurs of the books and music they're selling, like Dorian Sarrus.

DORIAN SARRUS: (Through interpreter) One of our specialties is having a huge choice in imports from around the world in every genre. We're able to do this because with digitization and the music crisis, we're able to buy directly from the label and the artists.

BEARDSLEY: Paris has always protected its booksellers. Small shops qualify for subsidies. And there's rent control in pricey areas of the city. To keep book prices from going too low, the French parliament has even passed a law restricting Amazon from offering free delivery and a 5% discount.

BITTORE: (Speaking French).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking French).

BITTORE: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: And, says Bittore, Gibert Joseph has something Amazon doesn't. He opens an app on his cell phone. He says they developed it because used books have been a core part of their business since 1929. Now it's digitized, and anybody can scan their used books at home and know exactly how much they'll get for them at Gibert Joseph, which tries to offer used volumes alongside new ones.

(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLE DRIVING)

BEARDSLEY: Outside the bookstore, people line up with bags of books. Teacher Pascale Nedelec is selling back textbooks and a complete DVD set of the series "Mad Men." She says even though she won't earn that much, she could never throw a book away.

NEDELEC: It's the idea that there's going to be a second life for this book. And someone else will be happy to have a cheaper one. And I'm making money. And it's a win-win situation.

BEARDSLEY: Nedelec says she loves Gibert Joseph and will always come here before shopping on Amazon. Bittore is counting on it. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLIE PARKER'S "APRIL IN PARIS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Tags: bookstores  Paris  Series: The Coronavirus Crisis