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The Strand Lays Off Some Recently Rehired Employees As It Prepares To Open UWS Location
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 13, 2020
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 13, 2020
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At the start of July, The Strand bookstore announced plans to open up a new satellite location at 450 Columbus Avenue, the former site of Book Culture. The Strand has now confirmed that the new store will open on the Upper West Side this Wednesday. However, instead of expanding its workforce, the bookseller has laid off 12 employees who were recently rehired after mass layoffs at the start of the pandemic.
"We were honestly too optimistic about reopening," Strand owner Nancy Bass Wyden said in a statement. "We wanted to welcome our community and our booksellers back, but the harsh reality is that foot traffic is non-existent. Tourists and students are gone and many New Yorkers are choosing to stay inside. The customers coming in are largely those living within walking distance. We’ve had to reduce our hours and are refocusing our energy on our website to drive sales. We hope our community will continue to support us and keep New York’s indie bookstores alive."
Back in March, 188 employees—the majority of the staff—were temporarily laid off from The Strand because the store had shut down due to coronavirus, with only 24 full-time employees remaining. (Other independent book sellers around the city, including McNally Jackson and Book Culture, also temporarily laid off employees around the same time.) At the start of June, The Strand began offering curbside pickups for online orders, and reopened their indoor space by the end of the month. They also announced a new Strand stand at Terminal B in LaGuardia Airport.
The Strand previously told Gothamist they rehired 33 of those employees by the start of July, bringing the total staff number up to 57. According to UAW Local 2179 Shop Stewards of the Strand Bookstore, there were 45 union members employed by The Strand by July 6th; on July 7th, 12 of the rehired staffers were informed by email that they had again been laid off.
The union decried these firings in a statement, calling it "an escalation of Bass Wyden’s long-standing pattern of wanton disregard for the physical, mental and financial well-being of her employees." They noted that Strand Bookstores, Inc. has received a PPP loan of between $1 million and $2 million, and alleged that Bass Wyden "takes in an income from the Strand & its subsidiaries in excess of $1 million...Nancy Bass Wyden’s actions demonstrate her refusal to confront the new reality that exists in NYC and the United States."
Last month, Bass Wyden was criticized after it was disclosed that she’d purchased at least $115,000 of stock in Amazon after previously calling them "a huge disrupter" for booksellers. She described the purchase as a necessary decision to keep The Strand operational: “I continue to stand against the unfair giveaways from local governments to giant corporations like Amazon, but the economic opportunity presented by the unfortunate downturn in the market will allow me to keep The Strand in business.”
The Strand declined to further comment when asked about the specific number of employees let go, plans for staffing at the UWS location, and whether Bass Wyden has received a salary during the pandemic.
Tagged
COVID-19
coronavirus
nancy bass wyden
layoffs
the strand
bookstores
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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