Romance Bookstore Update: October 2025
There are now 180 physical romance bookstores worldwide; 11 new physical stores opened in October.
Romance bookstore growth continued at a brisk pace this month, with 11 new physical stores opening in October and 11 more scheduled to open in November.
Thanks to two helpful French romance readers, I discovered 18 physical romance bookstores in France that are new to the directory!! France now has the second highest number of physical romance bookstores in the world (22), with 3 more coming soon.
I was also excited to be featured in a CBC article called The hot new spaces bringing romance readers together, along with my romance bookstore map!
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 180 physical romance bookstores in nine countries around the world, 121 (or 67%) of which are in the United States.
If we also include online and pop-up romance bookstores, the total number of stores grows to 302 (207 or 69% of which are in the United States).
Growth of Physical Stores
To date, there has been a net increase of 88 physical romance bookstores worldwide in 2025 (91 have opened, 3 have closed).
In the United States, there has been a net increase of 57 physical romance bookstores (58 opened, 1 closed).
As of October 31, the number of physical romance bookstores worldwide has almost doubled in 2025, increasing from 92 to 180.
Note: I discovered several physical romance bookstores in France that opened in 2023-2024, so I’ve updated the growth chart below.
There are now 342 bookstores in the directory (including Coming Soon)—47 were added in October.
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.