2 Philly stores among bestsellers on Bookshop

Philadelphia's independent bookstores are among those benefitting from payments sent via Bookshop.org, an online store where customers can send some of the profits from their purchases to their local mom-and-pop.

Why it matters: It's hard for small brick-and-mortar bookstores to compete with Amazon — but not impossible.

Follow the money: Total profits remitted from Bookshop.org have reached more than $31 million over the past three years, or an average of more than $6,700 per bookstore per year, CEO Andy Hunter tells Axios.

Where it stands: Philly has two of the top five bookstores on Bookshop.org — Harriett's Bookshop, Philadelphia and Uncle Bobbie's Coffee and Books, Philadelphia.

• The others are Semicolon Books, Chicago; The Lit Bar, Bronx, New York City and Elizabeth's Bookshop & Writing Centre, Akron, OH.

The bottom line: The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have precipitated a resurgence in independent bookselling, not only in the U.S. but also in places like the U.K. and Canada. New online platforms can only help.