In an effort to save The Strand, the famous downtown New York City bookstore, owner Nancy Wyden posted a heartfelt letter imploring book lovers to buy from the store in order to #Savethestrand. Within only two days, customers contributed to $170,550 in sales.
The letter, posted with the hashtag #savethestrand, was posted on the bookstore’s social media platforms. As of the end of October, the post received over 16.5 thousand retweets and 26.3 likes, making it hard for any social media goer to ignore the post.
“One woman in the Bronx bought 197 books,” recalled the Inquirer. “A dozen customers asked Strand to design their home libraries.”
Despite the love The Strand has been shown, Wyden’s request came as a controversy to some. According to Daily Mail, Wyden owns between $220,010 and $600,000” in Amazon Stock.
Many critics have called her out, wondering why she didn’t invest in her own personal finances. But according to Wyden she was only “seeing an economic opportunity.” Wyden said, “I was just thinking that I should diversify my personal portfolio and invest in stocks that are performing. I have to keep my own resources going to keep the Strand going. Those are interconnected. We used up all the money that we put aside.”
