Romance Bookstore Update: September 2025
There are now 150 physical romance bookstores worldwide; 8 new physical stores opened in September.
Romance bookstore growth picked up again this fall, with 8 new physical stores opening in September and 7 more scheduled to open in October and November.
I’m always interested to discover new romance bookstores outside of North America—this month I found two that are open in Lyon, France (Aux Grimoires Romantiques and Librairie BlackSpell) and one that is planned for Berlin, Germany (The Naughty Chapter).
I recently shared my Proposed Canadian Romance Book Tour Route on Threads (see screenshot below), which was one of my most popular posts. It lead me to discover another Canadian romance bookstore: Intrigue Books and Things in Peterborough, Ontario. That brings the total number of physical romance bookstores in Canada to 8, with 2 more coming soon.
In other news, I’ve also added two new filters to the directory: Recently added (to the directory) and Recently opened—let me know if you find these helpful!
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 150 physical romance bookstores in nine countries around the world, 111 (or 74%) of which are in the United States.
If we also include online and pop-up romance bookstores, the total number of stores grows to 267 (193 or 72% of which are in the United States).
Growth of Physical Stores
To date, there has been a net increase of 60 physical romance bookstores worldwide in 2025 (63 have opened, 3 have closed).
In the United States, there has been a net increase of 47 physical romance bookstores (48 opened, 1 closed).
As of September 30, there has already been a 72% increase in physical romance bookstores worldwide in 2025, increasing from 87 to 150.
Note: I discovered one new physical romance bookstore that opened in 2024, so I’ve updated the growth chart below.
There are now 295 bookstores in the directory (including Coming Soon)—24 were added and 3 were removed in September.
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.