Indie Bookstore Uses Wine Tastings and Puzzle Contests to Defy Amazon’s Chokehold
KEY POINTS
- •Kandi West, formerly in IT project management, became co-owner and general manager of WordsWorth Books in Little Rock in 2022.
- •The store boosted revenue by 7% yearly by expanding online sales, hosting events, and adding reading glasses and puzzles to its shelves.
- •WordsWorth fights rising costs and a restrictive Arkansas library law while working with co-owners Lynne Phillips and Lia Lent.
Kandi West, a tech-minded stay-at-home mom turned indie bookstore co-owner, is waging war against rising book prices, credit card fees, and even Arkansas’s absurd library laws—all while hosting ticketed best-seller launches and pairing pages with Pinot. Since 2022, WordsWorth Books in Little Rock has grown sales by a stubborn 7% annually, thanks to 1,500 shiny new indie bookstores crowding the market and West’s obsession with 'money on the shelf' (aka books that sell). They've also diversified into reading glasses, cards, and puzzles—to avoid becoming Barnes & Nod just yet. Meanwhile, West juggles lawsuits, events, and her three co-owners like plot twists in an indie novel nobody saw coming.
Share the Story
(1 of 3)Nothing says indie bookstore hustle like mixing puzzle contests, wine tastings, and fighting state book bans while calculating how many pages equal profit.
Sure, Amazon dominates books, but can it host a puzzle contest paired with wine and heartily judge your reading glasses fashion sense?
When your bookstore shifts from shelves to wine pours and puzzle floors, you know capitalism wrote a confusing plot twist.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 3/10/2026 | Author: Erica Sweeney
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