Dive Brief:

• A couple of tech-savvy poets and their designer friends have launched a website that allows New York City independent booksellers to feature their wares.

• Through CityShelf.com, designed for mobile, shoppers can search for titles and reserve the books they find for pickup.

• Eventually the team would like to add order and fulfillment capabilities and expand to more cities.

Dive Insight:

This is mostly a labor of love for Ben Purkert, Eric Weinstein, Liz Oh, and Javier Lopez — they have no venture capital backing. But it’s the kind of thing that independent booksellers and many readers have longed for — an answer to Amazon that supports indie stores. 

Amazon began its disruptive retail pursuits by selling books at cut-rate prices and has found many ways to anger some book-lovers and authors alike. CityShelf’s mobile orientation could help its growth, but to catch on it will likely have to add fulfillment.