2025 Beloved Queen Anne Business Award Winner: Queen Anne Book Company
Each year the Queen Anne Historical Society honors one of our neighborhood businesses as a Beloved Queen Anne Business at our annual preservation awards ceremony. This year, that honor went to the Queen Anne Book Company at 1811 Queen Anne Avenue N.
Entrance to the Queen Anne Book Company at 1811 Queen Anne Avenue N (source: Queen Anne Historical Society)
Tucked away behind Queen Anne Coffee, the Queen Anne Book Company sits mid-block on the west side of Queen Anne Avenue. This beloved independent neighborhood bookstore looms as a brick-and-mortar survivor in the era of online retail. Judy and Krijn de Jonge opened the Queen Anne Book Company in March of 2013, replacing the Queen Anne Bookstore, which had been at the location since the late 1980s. While the de Jonges initially had a third business partner, they are now the sole owners.
Beyond selling books, the Queen Anne Book Company takes care to encourage support of neighborhood not-for-profits such as the Queen Anne Helpline, the Queen Anne Farmers Market, and Picture-Perfect Queen Anne. They have been the generous purveyor of the Queen Anne Historical Society's book, Community on the Hill, and our map of neighborhood stairways. Their list of upcoming events includes everything of community interest and concern. The company’s monthly book discussions are yet another example of their robust community engagement.
Books on display in the cozy and inviting Queen Anne Book Company (source: The eNotes Blog)
The Seattle Times captured the vibe of our beloved bookstore in their review of Seattle’s independently owned booksellers with the remark, "The top of Queen Anne Hill is almost like an island apart from the rest of the city, and that's why Queen Anne Book Company feels a little like an island bookstore, stocked with all the escapist novels and dreamy cookbooks that you could ever hope for. The kid's book section is especially well-stocked, and the book club section offers plenty of possibilities for readers in search of inspiration." (Constant, Paul “All 63 Seattle-area independent bookstores our writer has been to (so far)," The Seattle Times, April 18, 2024)
We are very fortunate to have one of those independently owned bookstores right here in Queen Anne, especially one that has become such an integral and supportive part of our community. The Queen Anne Historical Society encourages Seattle residents of all ages to stop in and browse their wonderful selection of carefully curated books and congratulate them on being named 2025’s Beloved Queen Anne Business.