NEW - USED - ANTIQUARIAN!
My name is Paula - my brother and I are now running a family-owned used/antiquarian bookstore in Dallas that was opened by the original owner in 1947. Both my parents began working at the store when they were going to college in the 50's, so I basically grew up in a bookstore. When I was in my mid-20's I opened my own, small, second-hand bookstore which, although it lasted only three years, was a wonderful experience.
When my own store closed, I crossed over to the Other Side and began to work as an assistant manager for a regional chain called Bookstop. When the evil Barnes & Noble bought out Bookstop and proceeded to fire every manager in town, I quit. (Our store's extremely literate and degreed manager was replaced by a guy who had previously worked in the frozen pizza entree field and had to have a customer tell him what section of the store Tolstoy would be shelved in.)
I was out of work for several months, working part-time at my father's store, when the heavens opened up and delivered Borders Books & Music to us. Dallas was the first store in the chain to have a cafe (then called an "E-Bar") and to also sell music and videos. We were a flagship store - one of the highest-grossing stores in the chain - a jewel in the crown that was forever being visited by head honchos trying to see what our secret was.
The new book scene in Dallas was dominated by one independent chain I never cared for called Taylor's (which was, at the time, on its last legs). When Borders opened in 1992 it benefited from the waves of unrest amongst Bookstop and Taylor's employees. As a result, our Borders store was staffed with the absolute best, experienced staff to be found in any bookstore in the city. Back then, Borders had a sort of literacy test that you had to pass (sounds snotty, but it really wasn't). People were hired for their knowledge in specific areas and were assigned sections they actually KNEW about. I shelved Art and Media (both of which I loved), and, because I was a sort of mid-level manager, I was in charge of consignments (which I HATED). Eventually I was able to escape consignment hell, and I got the Texana/Local Interest section and was the only person in the entire store who could order ANYTHING - in any quantities for my section. I built up the Texana section into the best in town (my father's store was considered the best place to buy collectible Texana in town, and I asked his advice all the time). I eventually approached our Regional Director about the possibility of buying Texana titles for every Texas store. She thought it was a great idea, so I was able to spend a lot of time ordering and traveling all over the state setting up the sections all over the state. I sold a lot of books for Borders. I loved that job.
Then Borders went public and the halcyon days of the laid-back, hippy-HQ in Ann Arbor gave way to a corporate, bureaucratic mess with a resulting mass exodus of many previously happy, long-time employees. This was when some idiot buyer thought it would be best to cut down on the inventory of an amazingly deep back-list and, instead, focus on sidelines such as the abhorrent singing Billy Bass. What had been, without question, the best working experience of my life, turned into an absolute hell, with stores run by cut-throat managers who antagonized and belittled the staff, hoping the long-term (knowledgeable) employees would quit so they could be replaced with cheaper part-timers starting at minimum wage.
Although I had been thinking of quitting for months, I kept hoping that things would return to normal. At this time my father became ill. I began working at his store on my days off while I was still working at Borders. When my father died, I finally quit my job at Borders. I worked there for 8 mostly enjoyable years.
My brother (who has also worked for a variety of new and used bookstores) and I now run our father's store. We are the owners now, I guess, but it's hard to think of the store as ever being "ours."
Running your own business is difficult. Running your own business which happens to be a USED BOOK STORE is even more difficult. We'll never be rich, and, in fact, we may not be around much longer. I'm toying with ways to continue a book business without a storefront, but I'm a terrible procrastinator, and the idea of shutting down a book store which has been around for 55 years and which is so inextricably tied to my father (considered of the finest booksellers in the state), is very distressing.
But we'll see what happens.
This was a ridiculously long post.
I love hearing about others bookselling experiences, and I hope this community succeeds.
When my own store closed, I crossed over to the Other Side and began to work as an assistant manager for a regional chain called Bookstop. When the evil Barnes & Noble bought out Bookstop and proceeded to fire every manager in town, I quit. (Our store's extremely literate and degreed manager was replaced by a guy who had previously worked in the frozen pizza entree field and had to have a customer tell him what section of the store Tolstoy would be shelved in.)
I was out of work for several months, working part-time at my father's store, when the heavens opened up and delivered Borders Books & Music to us. Dallas was the first store in the chain to have a cafe (then called an "E-Bar") and to also sell music and videos. We were a flagship store - one of the highest-grossing stores in the chain - a jewel in the crown that was forever being visited by head honchos trying to see what our secret was.
The new book scene in Dallas was dominated by one independent chain I never cared for called Taylor's (which was, at the time, on its last legs). When Borders opened in 1992 it benefited from the waves of unrest amongst Bookstop and Taylor's employees. As a result, our Borders store was staffed with the absolute best, experienced staff to be found in any bookstore in the city. Back then, Borders had a sort of literacy test that you had to pass (sounds snotty, but it really wasn't). People were hired for their knowledge in specific areas and were assigned sections they actually KNEW about. I shelved Art and Media (both of which I loved), and, because I was a sort of mid-level manager, I was in charge of consignments (which I HATED). Eventually I was able to escape consignment hell, and I got the Texana/Local Interest section and was the only person in the entire store who could order ANYTHING - in any quantities for my section. I built up the Texana section into the best in town (my father's store was considered the best place to buy collectible Texana in town, and I asked his advice all the time). I eventually approached our Regional Director about the possibility of buying Texana titles for every Texas store. She thought it was a great idea, so I was able to spend a lot of time ordering and traveling all over the state setting up the sections all over the state. I sold a lot of books for Borders. I loved that job.
Then Borders went public and the halcyon days of the laid-back, hippy-HQ in Ann Arbor gave way to a corporate, bureaucratic mess with a resulting mass exodus of many previously happy, long-time employees. This was when some idiot buyer thought it would be best to cut down on the inventory of an amazingly deep back-list and, instead, focus on sidelines such as the abhorrent singing Billy Bass. What had been, without question, the best working experience of my life, turned into an absolute hell, with stores run by cut-throat managers who antagonized and belittled the staff, hoping the long-term (knowledgeable) employees would quit so they could be replaced with cheaper part-timers starting at minimum wage.
Although I had been thinking of quitting for months, I kept hoping that things would return to normal. At this time my father became ill. I began working at his store on my days off while I was still working at Borders. When my father died, I finally quit my job at Borders. I worked there for 8 mostly enjoyable years.
My brother (who has also worked for a variety of new and used bookstores) and I now run our father's store. We are the owners now, I guess, but it's hard to think of the store as ever being "ours."
Running your own business is difficult. Running your own business which happens to be a USED BOOK STORE is even more difficult. We'll never be rich, and, in fact, we may not be around much longer. I'm toying with ways to continue a book business without a storefront, but I'm a terrible procrastinator, and the idea of shutting down a book store which has been around for 55 years and which is so inextricably tied to my father (considered of the finest booksellers in the state), is very distressing.
But we'll see what happens.
This was a ridiculously long post.
I love hearing about others bookselling experiences, and I hope this community succeeds.