Friday, August 21, 2009

Closed for Construction Work, Monday August 24th & Tuesday August 25th

We will be closed this Monday, August 24th. The DPW is going to be completing the sidewalk construction work & will be paving right in front of our door. As such, we're going to be pretty inaccessible for the day. See you again on Tuesday.

Update: looks like we're going to be closed for most of Tuesday the 25th as well. We may be open later today when the cement dries. Please call ahead before visiting: (413) 253-5432.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Local-washing

The Corporate Co-opt of Local by Stacy Mitchell, author of Big-Box Swindle, is an excellent article concerning the recent attempts by various corporations to appropriate the idea of "buying local".

Corporate local-washing is spreading well beyond food. Barnes & Noble, the world's top seller of books, has launched a video blog site under the banner "All bookselling is local." The site features "local book news" and recommendations from employees of stores in such evocative-sounding locales as Surprise, Ariz., and Wauwatosa, Wis. The vlog seems designed to disguise what Barnes & Noble is—a centralized corporation where decisions about what books to stock and feature are made by a handful of buyers—and to present the chain instead as a collection of independent-minded booksellers.


Across the country, scores of shopping malls, chambers of commerce and economic development agencies are also appropriating the phrase "buy local" to urge consumers to patronize nearby malls and big-box stores. In March, leaders of a campaign in Fresno, Calif., assembled in front of the Fashion Fair Mall for a kickoff press conference. Flanked by storefronts bearing brand names like Anthropologie and The Cheesecake Factory, officials from the Economic Development Corporation serving Fresno County explained that choosing to "buy local" helps the region's economy. For anyone confused by this display, the campaign and its media partners, including Comcast and the McClatchy-owned Fresno Bee, followed the press conference with more than $250,000 worth of radio, TV and print ads that spelled it out: "Just so you know, buying local means any store in your community: mom-and-pop stores, national chains, big-box stores—you name it." . . . read full article

(via metafilter)
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see also: Starbucks Goes Stealth with Unbranded, "Local" Cafes

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Farewell Northland Poster Collective!

If you have been to our store you have no doubt seen the colorful posters decorating the walls above our bookshelves. The majority of these came from the vibrant Northland Poster Collective, who have been providing radical and progressive communities with amazing and powerful artworks for the past thirty years. Sadly, they are now closing up shop. While it is easy to identify the failing economy as the direct reason, they also note a larger context that should give one pause:

There's a bigger story that is worth noting that has to do with the way the cultural struggle for a better world is carried out. In short, the right wing is very aware that political power grows out of people's beliefs and hopes and dreams and they support their cultural warriors unstintingly. Our side thinks in terms of "issue campaigns" and leaves its cultural workers to work second jobs or take out mortgages to support their projects. We may wish to rethink this strategy.
There is a lot of painful truth being voiced here.

Food For Thought Books Collective would like to express our deep gratitude and solidarity with the people of Northland Poster Collective. Thank you all so much for all you've given us, for all the creativity you manifested & inspired. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Green Apple Books Videos

The gents at Green Apple Books of San Francisco have been putting out a steady stream of silly yet entertaining "commercials". Check it out:

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