Green Apple Books & Music

Green Apple Books
Main store entrance.
Location within San Francisco County
General information
TypeCommercial
Location506 Clement St.
San Francisco, California
Coordinates37°46′59″N 122°27′53″W / 37.7831°N 122.4647°W / 37.7831; -122.4647

Green Apple Books is an independent bookstore in the Richmond District of San Francisco, California.[1]

History

Green Apple Books was founded by Richard Savoy in 1967 in a pre-1906 building at the corner of Clement Street and Sixth Avenue.[2] In 1996, Green Apple Books acquired its long-time neighbor, Revolver Records.[3] By 2005, the store housed over 250,000 titles, as well as 60,000 available online.[4]

After 30 years, Richard Savoy proposed a ten-year buy-out plan in 1997 for Green Apple Books & Music with three long-time employees, with the sale completing in 2008.[2][5]

In 2014, Green Apple partnered with Le Video store on 9th street. The store was renamed Green Apple Books on the Park. The downstairs was turned into a Green Apple bookstore while the upstairs remained a video rental store (100,000 titles).[6] This location hosts almost all of the author talks and events for Green Apple.[5]

In 2019, Green Apple bought the bookstore Browser Books on Fillmore Street, keeping the Browser name.[7] The expansions helped the bookstores to stay afloat amid the death-by-digital struggle of book retailers by scaling up.[5]

In 2021, Green Apple downsized the Clement Street store back to its original pre-1996 size, cutting back its inventory of DVDs, magazines, records and gifts.[8][9]

In 2024, A Green Apple location opened inside San Francisco International Airport in Terminal 1.[10][9][11]

Reception

In 2001, San Francisco Chronicle described it as a "wonderfully creaky maze of a store."[12]

Green Apple Books was voted "Best Used Books Store" by the SF Weekly editorial staff in 2005[13] and the readers of the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 2006.[14]

Green Apple Books was named Publishers Weekly's best bookstore of 2014.[15][5]

Nicole Clark described Green Apple in The Bold Italic as the opposite of a big-box store, that was enjoyable to spend time in and discover new books.[16]

The Frisc credited its 'disheveled charm' as a factor in its longevity.[5]

References

  1. ^ McManis, Sam (2000-06-30), "Despite Online Competition, S.F.'s Independent Bookstores Survive", San Francisco Chronicle, archived from the original on May 25, 2011
  2. ^ a b Longstreet-Lipson, Madera (2025-06-11). "Why Green Apple Books in the Richmond has survived nearly 60 years". Mission Local. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  3. ^ "An indie bookstore survival guide". KALW. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  4. ^ Kraeuter, Chris (2005-12-06), "Corner Bookstores Stare Down Google", Forbes, archived from the original on December 8, 2005
  5. ^ a b c d e Eng, Sherri (2020-01-09). "How Green Apple Books Has Blossomed in the Amazon Era". The Frisc. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  6. ^ Garofoli, Joe (April 15, 2014). "Le Video survives thanks to partnership with Green Apple Books". SFGATE. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  7. ^ Jarrard, Sydney (2019-09-11). "Green Apple Books Buys Browser Books". the American Booksellers Association. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  8. ^ Green, Alex (11 March 2021). "Green Apple Books to Downsize at Flagship Location". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  9. ^ a b Li, Roland (September 15, 2021). "Green Apple Books is expanding to SFO". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2024-10-05. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  10. ^ Charnock, Matt (2023-06-12). "Don't Forget That SFO Will Get a New Bookstore Next Year". Underscore_SF. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  11. ^ "Where to dine, drink and shop at SFO | BARTable". bartable.bart.gov. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  12. ^ "A Literary City: Start book hunting early for the Holiday season!". San Francisco Chronicle. October 7, 2001.
  13. ^ SF Weekly Staff (May 11, 2005), "Best Used Bookstores", SF Weekly, archived from the original on 2011-06-10, retrieved 2007-05-02
  14. ^ "2006 Best Of The Bay: A Vision Of The Future", San Francisco Bay Guardian, 2006, archived from the original on August 13, 2006
  15. ^ Rosen, Judith (March 28, 2014). "Green Apple Named PW Bookstore of the Year". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  16. ^ Clark, Nicole (2017-09-05). "Ode to Green Apple". The Bold Italic. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
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