Think big, be small

Pulp, 2004

Everything at the Big Idea Bookstore’s new location, near the corner of Millvale and Liberty Avenues in Bloomfield, is tiny. Tiny stairs lead from the tiny storefront to a tiny loft with low ceilings and a table with tiny chairs like they use in kindergartens. Even the cash register is tiny- about half the size of the kind most stores use.

“We have this joke that everything here is small so that there’s room for the Big Idea,” says Emma Rehm, one of the many volunteers responsible for running the bookstore, which is “a collective dedicated to the promotion of radical/alternative cultures through community networking and distribution of literature” according to their official statement. Every aspect of the store is run by volunteers, and anyone who attends a meeting, usually held twice a month, is welcome to participate in the decision-making process.

Though the store itself might be small, the move represents a pretty large step for the Big Idea. The Big Idea started in May 2001, tabling at politically oriented events and speakers around Pittsburgh, selling books on subjects like feminism and anarchism, and by radical authors like Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky. In August 2001 they were offered a table at Roboto II, a show space in Wilkinsburg. When that closed down, the Big Idea moved up the street into the original Mr. Roboto Project, selling books during hardcore and indie rock shows. A few months later, the space next to the Mr. Roboto Project opened up and the Big Idea moved in there, sharing the space with Free Ride, a free bike repair workshop. The move gave the Big Idea more room, but sharing a storefront with a bike workshop that tended to draw dozens of local kids and their bikes proved to be hectic.

“We never intended to stay there,” says Rehm. “We just kept hoarding our money until we could afford our own space. We didn’t specifically plan to move to Bloomfield, but the space just seemed so perfect that once we saw it we didn’t really look anywhere else.”

One of the main advantages of the new location is that they get more foot traffic in front of the store than at the Wilkinsburg location. Most of the people who stopped at the store were people who were already involved with radical culture, who either made a special trip or were already next door to see a band. But at the new location volunteers are noticing a more diverse crowd coming in, including something of a lunchtime rush from the nearby hospital.

The size of the store seems appropriate given that part of the mission of the Big Idea is to support other small things- independent presses, radical authors, and homemade zines that the national chain stores overlook or ignore. They also want to help out other independent local businesses, and for example will try not to carry too many of the same records as, say, Brave New World or Paul’s CDs, or books that other local booksellers would carry.

All this weekend the Big Idea is celebrating their grand opening. On Friday there will be a benefit concert at Mr. Roboto Project featuring four local bands: Mary Celeste, Boombox, Redshift, and Ice Capades. On Saturday there will be a reading by local zine authors with free heart-shaped cupcakes. And anyone who goes to the Sunday Brunch at the Quiet Storm Coffee Shop in Garfield will receive a coupon for 10 percent off purchases of $5 or more at the Big Idea.

“I hope lots of people get really fired up by this,” says Rehm with contagious enthusiasm. “There’s definitely a lot of ideological support for local businesses, but we’ll see if people support it financially too.”