Goodbye Blue Monday
From the street, Goodbye Blue Monday might seem like just another junk shop, but stay until the sun sets and you’ll find yourself sitting front row for one of the best live music nights in Bushwick. The cafe hosts live shows and experiments in indie rock, like internet-based music competition “Song Fight Presents”, which has as much musical variety as the haphazardly adorned walls. The venue is decorated with thrift store finds, overflowing bookshelves climbing up to the ceiling, vintage lamps sticking out of every corner, and so many tchotchkes that the owner was forced to reorganize them [...]

The economy has hit the traditional brick-and-mortar book business especially hard. Even landmark literary institutions like Cody’s have not been spared. In contrast, Avalon.ph – a Manila-based online specialist in second hand books – has been thriving. Its founder, Jasper Ong, manages to maintain an independent shopkeeper’s touch by giving customers the chance to close transactions personally in select coffee shops during weekends. We sat down with Jasper to see if we could learn something from his success (which seems to be out-of-print these days).
1. What guides you in your book selection process? Does the weakening economy influence that process [...]