‘The Best Bookstore’ details financial struggles ahead of second-annual Readers Festival

"The Best Bookstore," located in Downtown Palm Springs is the only bookstore in the city. After opening in 2022, Co-founder Sarah Lacy said they didn't realize how difficult the summers could be financially.

Lacy said this summer was the most difficult they've experienced because of the record-breaking heat. Locals either left Palm Springs or were not going outside because of the weather, which unfortunately lasted through the fall.

“I don’t even know if you can calculate how much money was just unraveled from the local economy this fall because of the terrible summer that became the terrible fall," Lacy said.

Lacy and her co-founder were concerned they wouldn't be able to host their second-annual Palm Springs Readers Festival. With the low funding, the co-founders were taking their own money instead of receiving paychecks from the store to keep its lights on.

After months of waiting, the City of Palm Springs came together and told Lacy they would provide a venue and anything else they needed to keep the festival up and running. She said even thinking about the generosity of Palm Springs is emotional and there's no community like Palm Springs.

To the amazement of "The Best Bookstore" its event sold out once again, and they are excited to start the event Feb. 7 and continue throughout the weekend. Even though the festival is sold out, book lovers can get signed books from its celebrated authors at the store.