In a world where brick-and-mortar shops have seemed doomed for decades — thanks to e-commerce, rising rents, and, more recently, the lingering economic impacts of the pandemic — bookseller Jeffrey Long is staking a claim in the retail landscape. Earlier this year, Long opened a physical location of his namesake company, Long Bros. Fine & Rare Books, at the corner of South Jackson and Occidental Avenue in Pioneer Square. Housed in the Washington Shoe Building (which dates to 1892 and has a brick façade that still holds the faded name), the bright corner shop is the perfect addition to the city’s oldest neighborhood — one that has been struggling to regain its vibrancy post-pandemic. 

“To the uninitiated, it might look like a foolish idea to open a bookshop,” says Long, who has operated out of his house and primarily online since 1996. “But one key motive in hanging a shingle is that people know where I am, allowing the opportunity to attract collections. The challenge in the industry has always been acquiring good inventory — good books sell themselves.”

Long has been a bookworm since he was a boy growing up just north of Seattle in Brier. In his teens, he became interested in Northwest history after reading Murray Morgan’s Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle, a 1951 publication looking at the city’s evolution over its first century. “My grandparents had a copy,” Long recalls. “It was perhaps the only book they had besides a Bible. For some reason, I read that book and became very interested in Seattle’s history, then I went back to broader Northwest history, and then pre-history… I just kept opening book after book.”

Long studied English Literature at the University of Washington. After graduating, he became acquainted with Prentice Bloedel (of Bloedel timber family fame). “He had a substantial antique book collection,” Long says. “He didn’t call himself a collector, but he had intellectual interests that drove him to pursue and buy books that satisfied those intellectual curiosities. And, of course, he had the means to buy the best and the rarest.”

The two partnered up, along with Long’s brother, and launched Long Bros. Fine & Rare Books. “Soon, my brother decided to go to law school,” Long says, “but I decided to keep the name.” Long has two sons he admits are not too interested in entering the book business, but they will occasionally help out around the shop.

As for the inventory — talk about a treasure hunt. The shop is arranged for flexibility, with large rolling carts that hold inventory, but can be moved to the perimeter during author talks and book discussions. The interiors were imagined by Lisa Strong, a designer who lives in California but grew up in the Northwest and has known Long since they were teenagers. Light wood herringbone floors and shelving, original brick details, and a U-shaped bar in the back provide the perfect place to grab a glass of wine and flip through the plethora of titles on subjects from history to self-help to fiction.

A floor-to-ceiling wall of books, complete with a library ladder, greets patrons as they enter.

Photo courtesy of Long Bros. Fine & Rare Books

The island displays in the center of the shop are on casters and can be moved to accommodate events and parties.

Photo courtesy of Long Bros. Fine & Rare Books

“I’m a generalist, with an emphasis on Northwest history,” says Long. “But I also offer fiction, books on Chinese culture and history, and odd and unusual books.” This latter category seems to excite Long the most. Titles such as Obscene Interiors, The Weasels in New York, Forbidden Limericks Book 2, and Has God Been Insulted Here? inspire curiosity and just beg to be opened. (On the company’s website, there is an entire section dedicated to “Odd Books.”) Long travels around the globe scouring estate sales and antiquarian book fairs to continuously stock the shelves with new gems. But does he ever have trouble parting with a really good find?  

“I’m a hardened capitalist entrepreneur and unless books are inscribed to me, they’re all for sale,” he says. 

And there is truly something for everyone at Long Bros., with books starting at just $10 and going up to the thousands. Long says that the foot traffic in Pioneer Square has been great — a location near the train station and ferry terminal ensures a constant influx of browsers, and his upstairs neighbors — architecture office Olson Kundig — often pop down to check out new offerings. One of the most curious experiences for Long has been watching a new generation discover the joys of literary discovery.

“These young kids are coming in and they are unfamiliar with bookstores,” says Long. “And they are just beside themselves with wonder. It’s been so great to see their enthusiasm and that they are actually buying physical copies of books.”

Upcoming Event: On Oct. 19, Long Bros. Books will host a book launch for Hysteresis: A Profile of Brion Gysin by Roger Knoebber, who passed away in 2004. (Brion Gysin was a key figure in the Beat movement.) In attendance will be Cosmo Knoebber, son of the author, local litterateur Demi Raven, who owns the Roger Knoebber Archive, with his wife, Janet Galore, and Theo Green of Inkblot Publications, the book’s primary publisher. Theo has published multiple works by Brion Gysin since 1982, when Gysin was still living and knew Roger Knoebber.