Strand Bookstore to repay nearly $1.5 million over ineligible pandemic loan

Justice Department cited owner Nancy Bass Wyden’s marriage to Sen. Ron Wyden

The Strand Bookstore will pay back nearly $1.5 million after improperly applying for and receiving a pandemic-era small business loan it was not eligible for, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The settlement was announced Tuesday.

According to the Justice Department, the Strand was ineligible because its owner, Nancy Bass Wyden, is the wife of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon.

In 2021, the bookstore applied for a second-draw loan of $932,350 from the Paycheck Protection Program, which required applicants to certify that a member of Congress did not have a direct or indirect controlling interest in the business. The Strand had previously received a Paycheck Protection Program loan in 2020; that money did not require the same certification.

“The Paycheck Protection Program was created to save American jobs, not to enrich those who aren’t eligible for taxpayer-funded relief, especially the wife of a U.S. Senator,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement.

Bass Wyden said in a statement that the laws and regulations surrounding government relief programs “were changing rapidly” during the COVID-19 pandemic and that the bookstore was not aware of the eligibility changes between when it applied for the first and second loan.

“We stand by the facts: the circumstances arose during an unprecedented and rapidly changing public health emergency, the mistake was unintentional, and the funds were returned as soon as the issue came to our attention,” Bass Wyden said. “We regret the oversight and recognize the importance of complying with all applicable laws and regulations.”

The Associated Press reported that it sent an email to the Strand requesting comment. A spokesperson for Wyden’s office said the senator and his wife do not discuss her business and that he had no involvement in the loan or settlement.

Known for its “18 Miles of Books,” the Strand is a fixture of New York’s cultural scene and downtown life. The store has appeared in numerous TV shows and movies, including “Sex and the City,” “Julie & Julia” and “Six Degrees of Separation.” Its offerings range from used paperbacks selling for a few dollars apiece to rare first editions, and it is a prime spot for authors to give book talks.

Bass Wyden’s grandfather, Benjamin Bass, founded the shop in 1927. She and her father, Fred Bass, ran the store together before his death in 2018.

After the coronavirus pandemic spurred lockdowns and upended brick-and-mortar businesses, Bass Wyden appealed to the public in October 2020 to shop at the Strand in person or online. In a social media post at the time, she said “the loan we were given” had kept the store afloat for eight months, but that revenues were down 70% and the business was “unsustainable.”

A #savethestrand campaign that followed brought in more than 25,000 online orders in one weekend, Bass Wyden told The Washington Post at the time.

According to the Post, Bass Wyden furloughed 188 of the store’s 217 employees when lockdowns began in March 2020. The bookstore brought back 30 workers that June after receiving a Paycheck Protection Program loan of between $1 million and $2 million, then laid off 12 workers some weeks later.

Strife also mounted between Bass Wyden and the store’s workers’ union, particularly after it emerged that she had bought at least $115,000 worth of Amazon stock during the pandemic.