Pittsburgh Book Twitter blew up yesterday following this thread from White Whale Books about their experience with the developers of The Terminal in the Strip:
Today it was announced that a large new bookstore is opening at The Terminal in the Strip. We have some Thoughts.
TL;DR, White Whale got taken advantage of, and this is a cautionary tale. Buckle up! (Same text on images as on this thread)
1/15 pic.twitter.com/1bhZIbgxU1
— White Whale Bookstore (@whitewhalebks) May 3, 2021
When a local official (Mayor Bill Peduto’s Chief of Staff) shared the news, the local book community didn’t take long to “ratio” the tweet (“On the social media platform Twitter, a ratio, or getting ratioed, is when replies to a tweet vastly outnumber likes or retweets. This means people are objecting to the tweet and considering its content bad.”–Dictionary.com):
I have been working on this one for a few years. Excited to welcome Posman Books to the Produce Terminal https://t.co/2pU6PivYLo
— Daniel Gilman (@danielgilman) May 3, 2021
The local literary community is not having it! ❤️
— vivian lee croft (@UltimaSandraDee) May 3, 2021
It’s a splendid night to re-up my @Littsburgh “12 Days of Indies” series spotlighting many of Pittsburgh’s fabulous INDEPENDENT bookstores. Check ’em out, stop in, order online!
(Can somebody pass this info along to @danielgilman? He seems to be excited about the wrong places.) https://t.co/LIou7yPQ7D
— Joy Givens (@joyeilene) May 4, 2021
Outrageous story where a developer uses an indie bookstore as a bargaining chip to lure a chain bookstore. I’m sad & mad on behalf of @whitewhalebks in particular & indie bookstores & small biz in general. WHO wastes the time/energy/goodwill of small biz owners in a pandemic??? https://t.co/85zv4tdm0p
— Karen Lillis (@BookstoreMemoir) May 4, 2021
The story currently has hundreds and hundreds of shares on social media and is being reported in local papers and national publishing news outlets:
In today’s @ShelfAwareness: Pittsburgh’s @whitewhalebks offers “cautionary tale” about a developer; A Seat at the Table @seat_books opening in Elk Grove, CA; Pearl’s Books coming to Fayetteville, AR; obituary: Fred Jordanhttps://t.co/4n15VucIBU pic.twitter.com/6BM3HZrzNk
— Shelf Awareness (@ShelfAwareness) May 4, 2021
While independent bookstores across the country have been posting comments in solidarity with White Whale, especially on Instagram:
View this post on Instagram
Pittsburgh is home to SO MANY excellent locally-owned & nationally recognized independent bookstores. ICYMI, this city has a strong & passionate literary community and the key word there is . Looking forward to your response to our friends at @whitewhalebks.
— Littsburgh (@littsburgh) May 3, 2021
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