Viget’s Favorite Indie Bookstores

Laura Sweltz, Director of UX Research and Strategic Initiatives

Article Category: #News & Culture

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We want our beloved indies to survive this pandemic. Maybe you'll give one of our favorites a try?

As someone who loves books, I feel blessed to work at a place like Viget where many of my co-workers share my passion for reading and provide an outlet for my bookish enthusiasm. In addition to a love of reading, we also love buying books — especially from our local indies.

Many people are reading more during the pandemic but independent bookstores are still struggling. Stores have limited foot traffic (or may not be open at all for in-store browsing) which is hampering sales. The holiday season is a critical time of year for independent bookstores. A large portion of their annual revenue is typically generated during this time of year. But even if you never enter the physical store, you can still support independent bookstores through online purchases. Booksellers are urging customers to place their orders early this year due to supply shortages in the publishing industry and potential delays due to shipping carriers being overwhelmed.

We want to survive this pandemic — and we want our beloved indies to still be standing when we get to the other side. That’s why we’d like to highlight some of our favorite local bookstores. If our little corner of the web can help drive one additional sale to these beloved institutions, it will make our day.

So without further ado, some of our favorites.

The Falls Church Office

Our headquarters is located in Falls Church, VA, just outside of DC — home to many wonderful independent bookstores including:

East City Bookshop, Washington, D.C.

The Durham Office

The Viget employees who typically work in our Durham office are spread out all over The Triangle, which consists of Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh. We have some favorites in each city including:

Durham, NC

Chapel Hill, NC

Raleigh, NC

Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC

The Boulder Office

Boulder may be known as a have for lovers of the outdoors but it’s also home to some great bookstores including:

Trident Booksellers, Boulder, CO

The Chattanooga Office

Chattanooga is also a hub for outdoor enthusiasts but readers can also browse the shelves at All Books.


I hope you’ll give one or more of these great independent bookstores a try. If you’re looking for reading inspiration, check out Viget favorites from 2019.

Bonus Tip: Not interested in physical books? You can still support indies by:

  • Buying e-books through the bookstore’s preferred e-book supplier (typically listed on their website)
  • Buying audiobooks through Libro.fm

When you make your e-book and audiobook purchases through these outlets, a portion of the sale will go to the designated bookstore.

Laura Sweltz

Laura is Viget's Director of UX Research and Strategic Initiatives. She works from our Durham, NC office, where she helps clients like Rotary International, AARP, and Time Life understand the needs and behaviors of their users.

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