La Jornada: The “first bookstore without books” opens in New York

New York. The sound publishing giant Audible opened last Friday in New York what it presented as the first “bookstore without books”, a space entirely dedicated to the audio format.

The store has been opened for a month by the Amazon subsidiary in the Lower East Side, in southern Manhattan.

It was “a bit of a crazy idea,” which “required a lot of imagination,” acknowledged Audible CEO Bob Carrigan regarding the so-called Audible Story House.

As he explained in a presentation held on Thursday, the purpose of this ephemeral space is “to bring audiobooks to life in an environment in which works are discovered and connect with people who, like you, are interested in great stories.”

According to the United States Audio Publishers Association, audiobook sales reached $2.22 billion (more than 38 million pesos) in 2024, almost double that of five years ago.

On a practical level, audiobooks come in the form of cards that can be inserted into readers and listened to through headphones.

The reader offers a few minutes of the chosen title. To access the entire audiobook, you must go through the Audible mobile application.

The platform offers paid subscriptions, unit purchases and free access to numerous audiobooks, for those who already have an Amazon account.

The store thus wants to take advantage of the growing popularity of the format; It will host dozens of activities during this month, such as round tables and meetings between authors and the public.

“Audible Story House appeals to nostalgia and the feeling of community around the book, adapted to the present,” the company said.