Romance Bookstore Update: August 2025
There are now 138 physical romance bookstores worldwide; 5 new physical stores opened in August.
August was a bit slower for romance bookstore openings, with 5 new physical stores compared to the highs of June and July (when 10 and 9 opened, respectively). However, there are signs of more growth to come as 13 new “coming soon” stores were added to the directory this month.
I’m excited to announce that I’m adding Featured listings to the Romance Bookstore Directory, which means bookstores in the directory can pay to have their store featured (see screenshot below). The introductory rate is US$100/month and there will be a maximum of 3 featured bookstores per month. Advertising income helps fund my free romance reader resources! Contact me for more information.
In other news, I’ve also added Embedded as a new “Type” to the directory to indicate romance bookshops that are embedded in an existing bookstore or other retail store. As one reader pointed out, embedded bookstores are generally quite different than a dedicated romance-only bookstore, so I think it’s helpful to label them accordingly. They will still be tagged as Physical, but will have the Embedded tag as well. There are currently 5 embedded romance bookstores in the directory.
These detailed updates are a benefit for paid subscribers (only US$5/month or US$50/year). Everyone can see the high-level numbers before the paywall, but you’ll need to subscribe for all the juicy details.
A lot of work goes into managing the directory and compiling these updates, so your support is greatly appreciated! 💜
Overview
According to my research, there are now 138 physical romance bookstores in nine countries around the world, 107 (or 78%) of which are in the United States.
If we also include online and pop-up romance bookstores, the total number of stores grows to 249 (180 or 72% of which are in the United States).
Growth of Physical Stores
To date, there has been a net increase of 52 physical romance bookstores worldwide in 2025 (55 have opened, 3 have closed).
In the United States, there has been a net increase of 43 physical romance bookstores (44 opened, 1 closed).
As of August 31, there has already been a 60% increase in physical romance bookstores worldwide this year, increasing from 86 to 138.
There are now 274 bookstores in the directory (including Coming Soon)—16 were added in August.
The following is a breakdown of bookstores by type: Physical, Online, Pop-up, and Coming Soon along with a list of ALL the recently added and updated stores in each category! This includes some new charts as well. 📊
📌 Please note that these categories overlap—a store can categorized as multiple types. For example, a bookstore can be online and have pop-ups, with a physical location coming soon.