In an era when national retailers and online sellers dominate book sales, independent bookselling is king at Bay Ridge’s The Bookmark Shoppe. The Third Avenue bookstore has built its reputation not through trends or gimmicks, but through a straightforward focus on books, service and long-standing relationships with local customers.
“This is Christine’s baby,” staffer Erin Ruggieri said, referring to owner Christine Freglette. “Her dream in life was to open a store where she could sell people her favorite books. And I think she’s achieved that.”
Freglette, raised in South Brooklyn, has spent her entire life in the retail industry. As Ruggeri put it, she has worked “back when people had jobs when they were 11 and 12 years old.” The Bookmark Shoppe first opened in 2000 on 11th Avenue. Later, after the owners of the former bookstore, A Novel Idea, decided to sell, they approached Freglette.
“The sisters decided they were going to sell the store, and they offered [Freglette] first dibs, and that’s how we got moved to Third Avenue.”
Inside, the store carries a broad selection despite its limited footprint.
“We offer everything, at least we try to offer everything,” Ruggeri said. The inventory includes fiction, a section featuring The New York Times bestseller wall, gift books, cookbooks, science and history titles, a children’s section, and a steadily growing sci-fi and fantasy collection tied to the popularity of romantasy.
“We’re just small and condensed. We’re like a Campbell’s soup can,” Ruggeri laughed.
The store’s identity is closely tied to Bay Ridge itself. Ruggeri described the neighborhood as unusually stable and close-knit, even compared with other parts of the city.
“We’re like the Hidden Valley of New York City,” she said. “Where you do have people that have lived here from cradle to grave — we are still one of the last places where you really do see that.”
Many staff members — including Ruggeri and Freglette — grew up in the area, and that familiarity shapes how the store operates.
Ruggeri also said customer loyalty has been a defining strength.
“We’ve always had very loyal customers,” she said. “We know people by their first names. We know their kids. We’ve watched some kids grow up and go off to college. Kids get engaged to be married. A chain can’t do that.”
To combat competition from corporations, The Bookmark Shoppe differentiates itself by offering guidance and hands-on support. Ruggeri said that independent stores can respond to customer interests more flexibly than chains, especially when it comes to emerging authors or niche titles.
“A big chain is not always going to have independent books that have been curated,” she said. The staff also routinely recommends books based on personal reading experience. “Nobody’s going to stand in the aisle with you and really sell you that book,” Ruggeri said of larger retailers.
The store’s approach to curation is driven by practicality rather than gatekeeping.
“It’s very important,” Ruggeri said. “It’s not our job to dictate to people what they read. Our job is simply to either have it here if they want to purchase it quietly… or not shame them when they’re purchasing it.”
Looking ahead, she said the goal is to remain open and continue serving local readers.
“Sometimes people come in here and they don’t even know that they’re a reader,” she said. Helping them identify genres they enjoy or navigate academic reading lists is a routine part of the work. “As long as we help create readers, we will be here for that,” Ruggeri said.
“So if it’s five years, 10 years or 20 years from now, we’re going to be here in some way, shape or form.”
