Romance Bookstore Update: November 2025
There are now 205 physical romance bookstores worldwide; 22 new physical stores opened in November.
Romance bookstores reached a big milestone this month, surpassing the 200 mark—there are now 205 physical stores worldwide!
There was a huge growth spurt this month, with 22 new physical romance bookstores opening in November and 6 more scheduled to open in December.
There are also two new countries on the list of physical stores: Mexico (Flirt & Fiction) and Spain (A Romance Court)!
For Small Business Saturday, I partnered with Forever to promote romance bookstores in the United States and Canada. You can check out the post on Instagram.
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…including a list of all the upcoming romance bookstore openings! 🗓️
Overview
According to my research, there are now 205 physical romance bookstores in 11 countries around the world, 139 (or 68%) of which are in the United States.
If we also include online and pop-up romance bookstores, the total number of stores grows to 341 (235 or 69% of which are in the United States).
Growth of Physical Stores
As of the end of November, there has been a net increase of 114 physical romance bookstores worldwide in 2025 (119 have opened, 5 have closed).
In the United States, specifically, there has been a net increase of 75 physical romance bookstores (77 opened, 2 closed).
As of November 30, the number of physical romance bookstores worldwide has more than doubled in 2025, increasing from 91 to 205.
There are now 374 bookstores in the directory (including Coming Soon)—32 were added in November.
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.