Amazon Bookstore Cooperative was a feminist bookstore located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that operated from 1970 to 2012. It was the only lesbian/feminist bookstore in the U.S.at some point, but certainly not at its beginning.[1] The shop was named after the Amazons, a mythological tribe of fierce and independent women. In 1994 Amazon.com was founded and within a year, problems started for Amazon Bookstore. Terms of a lawsuit by Amazon bookstore resulted in a settlement, and a requirement that Amazon Bookstore go by the name 'Amazon Bookstore Collective' to reduce confusion with Amazon.com.[2][3]
Early years
Amazon Bookstore was founded in 1970 by Rosina Richter Christy and Julie Morse Quist. It was associated with the women in print movement, an effort by second-wave feminists to establish autonomous communications networks of feminist publications, presses, and bookstores created by and for women. Like many early feminist bookstores, Amazon began as a small operation with modest resources. The books were kept in the front room of the collective they lived in and books were only available from 3 to 6 PM or by special arrangement.