Drougas in Exile (along with his cat and books)

By Roger Paradiso

I’ve written a lot about James Drougas and his battles as a small business owner during the uber gentrification that has swept the Village since the 90s. The owner of the Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books on Carmine Street battled high rents for many decades, but it was Covid that brought him down in the end.

In those days, I was reporting on the difficult road faced by many small businesses. When we lost a mom and pop shop, I gave the same advice I gave Jim. You are not dead or left to die by the hipsters of Wall Street. Rise up and create the new Unoppressive Non-Imperialistic Bargain Books in exile.

Many independent artists are fighting the same battle as the small shops. High rents and low margins on new technology like streaming and online box stores that dominate the market are obstacles. Still, Jim remains optimistic that he can survive this era. To be optimistic and to believe in your dreams is a healthy way to live. That is a good thing for all of us to remember.

Here is my recent conversation with Jim.

Since you lost the lease on your bookstore, what have you been doing?
I keep very busy. This afternoon I joined the NO KINGS march and was not surprised to bump into old friends among the 50,000 protesters. It has been heartwarming to find a constant acknowledgement  from folks who recognize and remember the bookshop. This morning I told the cashier at Trader Joe’s that I owned the shop and her face lit up. She told me she went to City-As-School High School (just up the street) and all of her friends loved the shop as teenagers. She cried when she learned we were closed. She fondly remembered Alex, the book shop cat and a little boy who used to spend hours with his mom in the shop.

You are thinking of using a van as a mobile bookstore. Can you operate a bookstore on wheels?
I did purchase a tall Nissan van and I have materials to deck it out with about six shelf units. An old friend has a driveway in New Jersey where it can be worked on. The back doors open wide, and the side door slides out to make it feel welcoming. Of course, the Unoppressive Non-Imperialist signage will loom large.

What are the obstacles of an online store?
In the first place, it is ungratifying, ungrateful, and ultimately dominated by the oppressive imperialist feudalism of the technocrat billionaires. They make it appear that little guys can operate in their sphere, but truly it’s like a cloud-based one-dimensional pyramid scam. It’s not even capitalism anymore. It’s like feudalism reinvented. The vast number of small businesses comprise only a small piece of the pie dominated by a few lords in this realm.

How many books do you have in storage?
I’ve lost count. I have hundreds of boxes of primo book inventory tucked away in Vermont and I accumulate more when important items turn up that are too good to miss. My books are special, not only because they can be offered at great prices, but also because I can horde the best ones from choice sources that are within reach. I was always amazed that when I acquired what seems like a lifetime supply of a title, that it would invariably sell so fast it would only last a few weeks.

In addition to coming back from exile, what else are you thinking about?
I hope to share a store front again one day. I also have a dream to sprinkle a large property in Vermont with a dozen small cabins or trailer bookshops with various themes. It could be a destination with sleepover facilities and special events to draw travelers thirsty for books to enjoy.”

If you are looking for books that are out of print give Jim a blast on this email: unoppressive@gmail.com. We wish him luck on his return from exile. If you want to know more about him go online at The Village View to read my earlier articles or go to Global Cinema Online to see Jim and his store in my film, The Lost Village.