Episode 5

Green Apple Books

Clever T-shirts. Made-up holidays. A pop-up bookstore inside a bakery and a new shop at SFO. Pete Mulvihill grows Green Apple Books by defying conventional thinking. In an age of big-box stores, his team finds ways to keep the community invested in their independent business’s success. He shares business school wisdom you can’t get in a classroom.

Jun 11, 2025 — 21:16 min

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About the series

The Way Up: A Series by Square and Guy Raz

The way up is never a straight line. Hear the country’s most iconic business owners reveal how they overcame the odds. They dug into data, took menu items on trial runs, and eyed razor-thin margins. But they never forgot what matters most.

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About this business

Business Type

Independent bookstore Locations: 4

Location

San Francisco, CA

Products Used

Learn how you can power your business with Square today. Contact Sales

“I think customers shape the landscape of their cities and neighborhoods with how they spend money. And if they shop local, then you’re going to have a vibrant main street with a variety of shops.” — Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of Green Apple Books

Green Apple Books was compensated for their time and participation by Square.

More about this business

Operating Your Business

Green Apple Books — How Data and Technology Helped Green Apple Books Grow and Expand

by Jed Donahue

Jun 11, 2025 — 4 min read

Green Apple Books is an institution, but with slim margins in a high-cost-of-living area, they've had to get creative and become experts in efficiency. Learn how they thrived and expanded in this challenging environment.