Tag Archives: independent bookstores

Full-Circle Pleasantness

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The day before Thanksgiving, a woman called to ask if we’d be open on Black Friday.

Well, yes. “Oh good,” she said. “I’m from Memphis, and my husband and I will be in Kingsport for Thanksgiving with his parents. And I just read this book, The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap and loved it so I wanted to come up and see the shop. Will the owners be in?”

I laughed and told her that Jack and I would be spending the morning of Black Friday signing books and greeting customers outside Glen Moody’s charming shop “I Love Books” in Kingsport Mall.

“That’s a great store and my in-laws are familiar with it, but we want to come up and see Tales of the Lonesome Pine,” she said, hesitantly.

“You’ll be as welcome as Spring rain,” I replied.

We enjoyed our time at Glen and Deb’s shop in Kingsport–it’s always nice to talk trade with fellow bookslingers–then headed back to home, sweet bookstore. During our chat, Glen said something that stuck with me. “Time was that bookstores as close to each other as yours and mine are would be competitors. But not now. We’re allies.”

Yes, we are.

We’d not been back twenty minutes when the door opened and Debby came in with her mother-in-law. They were delighted to see the bookstore, and Jack was delighted to show them around. Debby had bought my book at Booksellers at Laurelwood, one of our favorite bookshops ever (Hi, Nicole!). There’s just something very full-circle-pleasant about a woman from Memphis making a casual purchase in her hometown bookstore–one that has fought hard to stay independent in its community, I might add–then visiting relatives near our store and driving up to us while we were down in her in-laws’ town, signing at a friend’s bookshop.

Jack and I have much to be thankful for this season, including a circle of new reader and bookslinger friends. Here’s to all the fun, interesting people who read Little Bookstore and searched us out on Facebook to leave nice comments, and to the new friends in the bookslinging world that this week has brought–particularly to Peregrine Books that just opened, and to ReBook out in Utah. We hope your Black Friday has been as fun and filled with full-circle pleasantness.

Wendy will be signing at Fountain Books in Richmond, VA this Monday from noon-2 pm.

Happy to be Here

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We pulled into BOOKSELLERS AT LAURELWOOD just after lunch on Friday. It’s a dignified, orderly store of honey-colored wood and pretty displays.

Don’t let the exterior fool you. Like the class clown in a prom dress, this bookshop’s personality can’t help but shine through.

For the full story of what BaL has endured to stay standing, visit their website or google their press coverage from last year, but the nutshell version is “regional chain liquidation from Davis Kidd, nasty games with head financial officers, corporate shenanigans involving rights to use their name, and the hero of the piece–Neil–hiring back the existing staff when they re-opened as BaL.”

Those who work in animal rescue will understand instantly what I’m going to say next, and I hope the rest of you find it a non-derogatory, non-odd comparison. If you’ve ever fostered a dog rescued from a shelter at the last possible moment, or a momma cat and her kittens sprung on euthanize day, you know that animals–even cats!– show gratitude. Those who came closest to complete loss never forget, and express appreciation even as they revel in snow and grass and water and life; they just plain lick your nose or purr more often, and they’ll do anything for you.

Permit me this metaphor among those who have not shared this experience, because every time I walk into Booksellers at Laurelwood, their joy in being there shines through. Liquidation was 3 days away, and they got rescued. Since then, they’ve been rescuing their community every day.

One of the people who’s worked there longest is Nicole. A more cheerful person you will not meet. The petite blond was described to me by another staff member, JoAnne, as “an artery for this store.” If you’ve read my book, Nicole was the person who stood in the children’s department on Dec. 24, 2011 chatting with us as the place filled up around her, turning amiably to say “top shelf at the back, next to the dragon” or “I’m so sorry; I sold the last copy Monday” as customer asked questions. She is a poster child for why bookshops must remain, because her orderly department is brimfull of happy kids whose parents are buying them the books they read as children, and she knows which ones are for what personalities and ages. The woman is a walking encyclopedia of Curious George trivia; she can tell you things about Pippi Longstocking you didn’t know you didn’t know.

As we stood chatting once again last night before our book talk at BaL, a little girl came whizzing past to play at the cars and roads table behind us. Nicole turned and looked at this child in her bright pink and green dress, a bow the size of a magnolia blossom behind her ear, and smiled.

“See?” she said, indicating the oblivious toddler with an unobtrusive shoulder roll. “Even on bad days, how bad can it be? Look what I get to do for the next generation, surrounded by all that energy and cuteness.”

Go, Nicole – and Carley and Chad and JoAnne and Scott (these last two get their own blog post later this week) and the rest. Bring back the joy in bricks-and-mortar bookshops!