Feb 3, 2020
McNally Jackson Books is an independent bookstore based in New York City owned and operated by Sarah McNally, a former editor at Basic Books and the daughter of Holly and Paul McNally, founders of McNally Robinson Booksellers based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Sarah opened her first of seven stores in 2004 as a branch of McNally Robinson. In August 2008 she established McNally Jackson as an independent company. In October 2019 she met me.
We consorted in the basement of her flagship store. Two thirds of the way through our conversation we were jointed by Jeff Deutsch, Director of Chicago's Seminary Co-op Bookstore.
Among other things, our discussion covers chocolate bars, delegation, Sunday emails, rents & real estate, the procreation of bookstores, Sarah's stationery, aversion to irrational travel rules, reading not changing the world, smugness, Trevor Noah's book, mutual respect, civic missions, retail in Paris, mobs of tourists, visuals, the importance of cover designs, the retreat of criticism, Instagram, bugs, Bison Books, offices, seminary students, lines on the floor, browsing, tables and buying-energy, matcha and mouldy mugs.