Amazon Bookstore Cooperative was a

feminist bookstore Feminist bookstores sell material relating to women's issues, gender, and sexuality. These stores served as some of the earliest open spaces for feminist community building and organizing. Prior to the spread of feminist bookstores, bookselling ...

located in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, that operated from 1970 to 2012. It was the first lesbian/feminist bookstore in the U.S. The shop was named after the

Amazons In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, ...

, a mythological tribe of fierce and independent women. In 1994

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

was founded and within a year, problems started for Amazon Bookstore. Terms of a lawsuit by Amazon bookstore resulted in a small settlement, and a requirement that Amazon Bookstore go by the name 'Amazon Bookstore Collective' to reduce confusion with Amazon.com.

Early years

In 1970 when Amazon was founded by Rosina Richter Christy and Julie Morse Quist, it was far from a full-fledged bookstore. The books were kept in the front room of the women's collective they lived in and books were only available from 3 to 6 PM or by special arrangement. This arrangement lasted for about two years before the book store moved to Minneapolis' Lesbian Resource Center and then migrated through a series of different storefront addresses. Working conditions were sometimes difficult and included an unsafe neighborhood and a building with no heat where pipes froze and people had to wear gloves inside the store.

Lawsuit

In 1999, the cooperative sued

for trademark infringement. After sometimes acrimonious legal proceedings, the case was settled in November of that year, with Amazon Bookstore assigning its common law rights in the Amazon name to Amazon.com; and Amazon.com giving a license back to Amazon Bookstore Cooperative for use of the Amazon name.

True Colors

The business announced that they were closing down at the end of June 2008, and buyers came forth to carry on the store as an

independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, cl ...

. Ruta Skujins, with the help of her partner, Joann Bell, decided to take over the store. Transfer of the ownership of the store happened at the end of June, according to an e-mail sent by the store to customers on June 17. In November 2008 it was announced that the store changed ownership and as a result, the Amazon name could not be used by the new owner as it was owned by Amazon.com. The new owner of the bookstore, Ruta Skujins, changed the name of the store to True Colors Bookstore, and both names were in use during the transition period. The bookstore began experiencing financial difficulties in late 2011, with the store closing in February 2012 due to this.

Influence and significance

Amazon became "the oldest independent feminist bookstore in North America" and was probably "the oldest in the English speaking world". It had an impact that extended both beyond its immediate area and beyond the United States. It also had a presence in popular culture. Cartoonist and graphic novelist

Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir ''Fun Home'', which ...

was inspired to create the fictional Madwimmin Books in ''

Dykes to Watch Out For ''Dykes to Watch Out For'' (sometimes ''DTWOF'') was a weekly comic strip by Alison Bechdel. The strip, which ran from 1983 to 2008, was one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture and has been called "as import ...

'' based on experiences at the store.

References

External links

Official site
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