My name is Melissa Eisenmeier. I own the Parkville Bookworm, a used bookstore in the Baltimore, Maryland, suburbs. It’s the perfect job for me: I have to read books to recommend them to customers. I get to talk to and meet all kinds of interesting customers, from Kathryne, a fellow history junkie and cat lover; Alicia, who plays guitar, likes science, and Stan Lee, my staff cat; the lady who comes in with her husband once a week and recently told me her cat is Stan Lee’s girlfriend; and Karen, my outsource buyer(Jack and Wendy would likely call her the no-cash crew). I enjoy showcasing all the cool books out there. My customers seem to like the store, too; I often get told this.
Things were going fairly well in June, but I still wasn’t quite making enough to pay the bills. The past two months have kicked my butt, however. July and August, as I expected and tried to plan for, have been slower than I would like, and I quickly ran through what money I had set aside. I tried some different stuff to draw people in, from art shows to book clubs(the art show with Jenny O’Grady went over really well, and she was a lot of fun to have in the store).
When the credit union told my business partner she was at her limit, I knew I had to act fast. I didn’t want to close the bookstore, and we couldn’t borrow any more money. I decided to turn to my customers. I did the math, and figured out if I could get all 325 people or so who liked the bookstore’s Facebook page as of Thursday afternoon to come in and spend $10 by the end of the month, then I could make the rent, pay my assistant Lisa, and pay all my other bills.
The Parkville Bookworm is located at 2300 E. Joppa Road in Parkville, MD. The store is located across from Taco Bell, and the entrance faces Ed an Jim’s Auto Body Shop. You can also find us on Facebook.
And of course I encourage you to support your local bookstore if you’re lucky enough to have one. Should you not, you can message the bookstore’s Facebook page with a short list of books, or send an Excel sheet or Google spreadsheet list to me at parkvillebookworm@gmail.com. If it’s in stock, I can mail it after we do a credit card transaction..
Wendy Welch: Books, Yarn, Cats, Opioids 
You rock Wendy. I honestly don’t think I know anyone near there but I will share this post on facebook and “like” their store.
A sincere best of luck to Melissa. I’ve been living on the edge with our bookstore in Wi for 3 years now.
This really hit home, as August has been one of the slowest months ever for my bookstore in Neenah Wisconsin. I had 4 customers yesterday who luckily spent $10 each rather than $4. Not all days have been that “good”. I am hoping it’s end of summer, last minute vacations, back to school shopping, getting the cottage closed up type of temporary slow…but like Sue in her comment above…it’s been a struggle to stay above water for a few years now. I will be following the Parkville Bookworm’s FB page in hopes they can hang on. Let’s all hope for more book readers come September.
Thanks, Sue and Tina.
I expect sales will pick up in September, hopefully at the level it was in June, or better. My friends and acquaintances in retail and who work at the library talk about how it’s slow in July and August, but things pick up in September, so I’m hoping it gets better.
I don’t live near you, but I will pledge to buy a book (since I just liked your Facebook page)! https://m.facebook.com/parkvillebookworm. I will message you!