The store has remained independent and family-owned since its founding,[1] and it is considered a community space for African-American and literary culture in the San Francisco Bay Area.
As explained by Blanche Richardson in a 2008 interview:"They shared a love of reading Black books and found them difficult to find and purchase.
As a result, African-American families began to move into the neighborhood, after previously facing housing discrimination from white landlords in other parts of the city.
By the post-WWII era, the Western Addition, also known as the Fillmore district, was a thriving hub for African-American culture in the West Coast of the United States.
[2] The location had previously been the site of Jimbo's Bop City, a jazz club that attracted Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and others.
[14] For example, in October 1968, J. Edgar Hoover wrote in a memo about the “increase in the establishment of black extremist bookstores which represent propaganda outlets for revolutionary and hate publications and culture centers for extremism.” The memo asked for FBI agents to identify "black extremist and/or African-type bookstores" and open investigations into them.
[16][17] As explained by Blanche Richardson:"When the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency began "redeveloping" Blacks out of San Francisco, devastating the self-contained and vibrant Fillmore District, many Black families moved to the East Bay and my parents opened a second store in Oakland in 1976.
[6] However, the largest challenge to Marcus Books came in 2006, when the Johnsons took out a $950,000 predatory loan with monthly fixed interest payments.
The building was sold to the Sweis family, real estate investors and owners of Royal Cab, through bankruptcy court[20] for $1.59 million.
However, the Sweis family refused to sell the building for under $3.2 million, and they ordered a judge to evict Marcus Books.
[20] In 2016, it was announced that Marcus Books would return to San Francisco, where they would occupy a space at the African American Art & Culture Complex (AAACC) on Fulton Street.
The AAACC space hosts other African-American organizations, such as the African American Shakespeare Company and the San Francisco Juneteenth Festival,[18][22] and it holds a large theater and conference rooms.
[11] During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Marcus Books needed to temporarily close due to social distancing restrictions.
[25] They have also republished books that had been previously out of print, including The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey and Stolen Legacy by George G.M.
[10] Many notable African-American figures have patronized the store or hosted readings, including Malcolm X, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey,[9] Terry McMillan, Walter Mosley, Muhammad Ali, Ishmael Reed,[6] Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, Chaka Khan, Queen Latifah, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Randall Robinson, Nikki Giovanni, E. Lynn Harris,[10] and others.