Marble Works
@foundhello discovered in Marble Works
American Flatbread, Marble Works, Middlebury VT
Mail drop, Marble Works, Middlebury, VT
See the green post-it notes? The other day, my daughter, Hannah, just returned to the store from checking the mail and walked from the Big Yellow Room towards the Children’s Room when she let out a squeal, “We got a post-it, too!” What? She explained to me that she had seen a post-it note on Flatbread’s outdoor menu board and just discovered one in our store. Well, that has to mean something! Recognizing “@foundhello” was a twitter thing, I went online to check it out. Apparently someone goes around and puts post-it notes on random places for people to find and enjoy. And to encourage. Positive messages. So I grabbed my cell and took photos.
The other day I went to post a letter and as I approached the mail box I noted something green fluttering and lo and behold! another post-it note! Marble Works received three! At least that’s all I found.
I really like the message left in my store. I don’t know if it is a message meant for me but I am taking it to heart. I’m not going out without a good fight! I’ll continue working hard to keep this store open. I don’t want to take my inventory home and be an online used book store. So to whoever you are, thank you! It was a nice treat to find the notes and smile.
I love stuff like this.
Random Thoughts on Used Bookstore Daily Activities
Sitting here thinking of what I should write and nothing specific is coming to mind. So this post is going to be of random thoughts from this used bookstore lady.
This year for the Middlebury Arts Walk I have been celebrating bookmarks. It was interesting during the first walk I was asked by a customer, “What type of bookmarks are you featuring? For a website?” Huh? It took me a few moments for me to register what she was asking. “For books,” I replied. Then she got confused. I showed her one of the bookmarks and then she understood. Interesting. Come into the store and see the bookmarks I’m offering for sale. They are mostly made by Vermont artists. Only one isn’t.
My reason for choosing bookmarks is to highlight how there are so many cool things for books – actual books with pages one has to manually turn – as opposed to e-readers. One can purchase or make a cool cover but how about bookmarks? Book lights? Book covers? And when the book falls apart you can make art. Well, you could. You don’t have to but you could.
If you have been by the store lately you would have noticed that the vines on the outside of the building has been removed. I was somewhat torn about taking it down but I am very happy with the results. My signage stands out and as you walk by you can actually see my window displays. That excites me very much because that was one thing I missed moving from Main Street – that huge window. Now I have two facing the parking lot. I have to start planning my displays now. Before with the vines the windows were hard to see so I didn’t spend time on them nor changed them often.
Another change on this side of Marble Works is that the Farmers Market has moved over here. The area overlooking the Otter Creek is being re-sod for the new Riverfront Terrace and Walkway. To accommodate those coming to the Market I have been opening the store earlier at 9 a.m. Both Wednesday and Saturdays. It has been great fun for me. I’ve been welcoming even locals who didn’t know I moved the store two years ago. They thought I closed. Once again proving that one can do everything one can to promote a business (in this case) but not everyone is going to get it. Aside from telling each individual. I don’t mean to be rude. It’s just the way it is. I’m good with that.
The 50% sale went over very well the previous week. Once again it was an unadvertised sale. It allows me to thank customers – new and old – for their business as well as to turn over inventory. I have many new boxes to add to the store. Including ten boxes stored in my house and those are mighty fine books: world history, WWI, WWII, books on books and more. They are itching to come in. And I’m itching to get them out of the house.
Yesterday – Friday, August 9 – was National Book Lovers Day and all books were 10% off to celebrate. Again, a nice surprise for customers.
I’m in my quiet time of the store -2 pm-3:30. This is the time I close the store for a few minutes to check my mailbox and enjoy some fresh air. So that’s what I going to do. Later.
The Rumpus Continues for Two More Days!
As the chalkboard sign indicates there is a 50% sale going on for all books. I call it a secret sale. In other words, you have to be walking in or by to note the sale as well as see the sign greeting you when you walk into the store. An appreciation sale for customers and to help move around inventory and, of course, to encourage new customers. The sale, which started on Monday, has been going very well. Fun to surprise customers especially the regulars.
Tomorrow should be fun with the Middlebury Farmers Market on this side of the Marble Works, the North Marble parking lot. It’s moving so the other side, the Riverfront Park, can get needed improvements. The Farmers Market will continue on this side for the rest of the season. I’m already planning on my lunch – Thai food – picking up veggies, and a Saturday favorite, chocolate croissant. How easy it will be to run out in between customers to make a purchase or two. Of course I’m more excited about the potential to reach more customers who otherwise might not even know this store exists because they only stay on that side of Marble Works. But have you tried the Thai food? Wouldn’t it be fun to sit on the marble block (see above), enjoying a good read (a used book, of course!), and chowing down on some good food?
A Total Used Bookstore Geek
Yes, I admit it wholeheartedly! I am a used book geek. I throw in used bookstore because well, I own a used bookstore (duh!) so actually does that make me a double-geek? I don’t care. That’s who I am and proud of it!
So, I have become a maniac for stickers on book jackets. I came across one book – ugh! I can’t remember which one! – and I saw the sticker “Shakespeare & Co. ” What? Really? Seriously? I adore/admire/envious/etc., etc. of Sylvia Beach, the woman behind Shakespeare & Company. The first and real one. Of course the sticker I found isn’t from her era but still, it is from Paris (assuming).
I downloaded the above photo from the Internet many years ago and have it stuck to the wall above my desk here at the store -where I’m sitting right now- and I attached the sticker to it. (see above.) So cool. It makes me happy.
Someday…I’ll make it to Paris. And London. And Hay-On-Wye…And…
I’ve put this off…
I’ve been put off posting for a bit. Mainly because I didn’t want to write about what’s been going on here but due to a rumor that was just told me I felt the need to blog about it. All will be fine.
As many know by now, I have my store on the market, for sale. Oh, it was a hard decision, you can be assured of that but I am one to be honest and forthright. Rather than hearing rumors you may read the reasons. If one stopped in the store I would answer all questions as I have been doing.
Back in November 2012 I was taken to Porter Hospital and checked myself into the ER with heart palpitations. Severe enough that the doctor wanted to admit me for overnight monitoring but nope, I wasn’t going to have that. So I did everything I could within my power to breathe through, meditate, relax, anything! to bring my heart beat down and within the range to allow me to go home. Oh yea, and meds. I was diagnosed with a condition -don’t ask me to spell it- and on medication and recognizing that it will now be something I have to live with. No problem! All tests came back that I was fine and to continue doing everything as I have been.
During my time in the ER my husband, Rusty, asked me to “please, now put the store on the market so we could have quality time together.” Hiking, camping, traveling, and the like. This event was to serve as our wake-up call. Our roles have reversed somewhat from when we were first married and throughout most of our married life. He worked 24/7 it seemed while General Manager of the Middlebury Inn. Now that he is GM at the Courtyard Marriott, he is awarded with more downtime though he could be there 24/7 because well, that is his nature. But he has many weekends off. I don’t. I work in the store six days a week and though it isn’t taxing it does take dedication.
I am a person who lives by my word. It took me several months to actually make the commitment and seek out a realtor and then it took me several weeks once committed to come to the realization that it wasn’t going to sell overnight. Phew! So now you realize I have mixed feelings about this but I understand and appreciate that when the right buyer comes along it will be right.
I can’t help but look back on my life as a bookstore lady and recognize that I have mostly achieved my dreams. Though owning a used bookstore was never in my life plans it should have been. I’m proud of how I turned around the business from a failing Main Street business to one that is now on its own, paying its bills. I moved the store, going on two years now, to the Marble Works. I understand in deciding to move the store that I would be setting it back again a few years but one that I have never looked back on with regret. I love this space with its nooks and crannies. I love the community of the Marble Works. We look after one another. I love how some who live in the Marble Works Residences pop in to see how I’m doing. What I’m finding here is what I hoped to and expected on Main Street but didn’t happen. It is a wonderful world ‘down here’.
I stayed in my previous employment for over a year at the Addison County Chamber of Commerce in order to pay the store’s bills. Sales & Use Tax was paid quarterly. When I left ACCOC it took a number of months until I received new paperwork in the mail from the state that I was now required to pay S&U Tax monthly. Hooray! That was my first sign that the business was turning and from that I have done well. But leaving Main Street was somewhat of a difficult decision only because I knew it was going to be hard for customers to find the new location. No business really wants to leave Main Street. But I was in the basement of an aged building that the owners didn’t reinvest in. There was a crack in the foundation that when it rained I had to be prepared for puddles appearing. In the summer I was daily spraying the outside of the building to detract the bugs crawling in. No windows but for the large plate glass overlooking Main Street and one in the back door. And with pending railroad work it really threatened the ability of keeping the door open. At least the front door. Hence my decision to move the business. Though it did set me back financially I would do it again.
I’m outgrowing this space but I love looking for other ways to feature the books. Just being creative. My claustrophobia is getting better. I look around myself now and see piles of books waiting for pricing or shelving. And the boxes! Many boxes waiting to be gone through.
So enough of this break! I have got shelving to do. Open up a box or two. Look-up some books for a customer and yea, a stream of customers just walked in.
[Used] Books vs E-books
Right off, my comparison is going to be a lot different than you are probably use to. As a seller of used books I’m not frightened of e-readers. Not at all. Why you ask? Well, let’s look at the differences.
When you think of used books you might think of an image such as:
Or what about this:
Or:
Books – physical books – stir emotions. Create anticipation. Discovery. As well as artistic backdrops. The smell, possible notations from previous owner(s), mementos tuck in between pages. Even serve as a diary. A diary of remembrance. A pile of books. Enjoyable to look at. Am I not right? Of course I am!
Here’s a couple of e-book (Kindle) images my daughter took. I told her to think artistically.
(What is she reading???)
And to be fair, one more:
See what I mean? And of course, real books are better to read. Maybe heavier but so much more personality. I know I’m right. And to be fair to my daughter, she has piles of books around. Piles! I don’t know why she has a Kindle but I don’t judge.
And besides, you’ll never see this with any e-books – an aisle full of them.
Resolution Time!
I generally don’t make resolutions but I decided this year I would and publicly announce them. I should clarify, store related. Personally I don’t make any. I’m not even going to put myself in that position. Store related is different. Its professional. It is all about the store and being a good used bookstore lady and representative of the industry. An industry I believe in and one that I feel has a strong future. Seriously now, do you believe that e-books will totally replace books? I don’t. Even if I didn’t own a used bookstore I’d feel that way. Anyways, before I lose track of this post…
Resolutions. What kind of resolution would a used bookstore want to make? Post more books online, is one thing. Make a conscious effort in blogging and better represent the books that enter the store. Feature them. Write about them. Maybe work towards creating an inventory of the books? And how about this one…read. Yes, read. I’m giving myself permission to read when the store is open. Well, that’s crazin
ess, you are probably thinking. You think I read all the time. No. I don’t. Actually there is a lot of work to do in a used bookstore. It can be what you want to make of it. I chose to be – or try – to be on top of the incoming books. By now you know that I don’t like boxes of books lying around. Especially me. So I try to go through them quickly to SPS (sort, price, shelve). But lately I’m finding myself not so intense about them. Am I getting lax? Maybe so. Or maybe I’m starting to feel more comfortable with the store and relaxing some. Something to ponder, if one so chooses.
There might be more to the list but for someone who doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions I think that it’s a lot. So with that…here’s to an awesome 2013!
Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes Under Glass
Great A, little a,
Bouncing B;
The cat’s in the cupboard,
And she can’t see.
I thought I would feature these nursery book pages that are hanging around the store.
The book came in with a moldy cover but fortunately the pages were still okay. Phew! I rescued them and have some posted around the store as well as two pages framed. What is interesting about the frames is that they are reversible! What?! Yes, each page features a rhyme on each side so how could one side be covered up? If you get tired of one side just flip the frame to the other side and admire the other rhyme for a while.
Here is an example of the front of the frame:
And here is the back of the frame which is also under glass:
How clever, huh? Framing was done by Nancy of Artemis Framing, who also is the Marble Works gardener. The pages are sold separately or if interested, Nancy can mount and frame for you. Nancy is so talented!
Stop in and check them out.
Busy Day Here In the Used Book Store
A quiet moment…been busy today. I’m learning about the new program I have for buying back textbooks. Yes, I buy used textbooks. It probably undignifies me in the glamorous world of antiquarian books but it helps me out through my slow months of April, May, and June. Once the weather starts warming after chilly winters Vermonters go outdoors and get their gardens ready, head up to Church Street (in Burlington) to people watch, or take to the hiking trails, go fishing. Anything to be outside and enjoy the warmer weather. Those months who feels like reading? Well, me but if I could I would also be outside. And it also helps to bring in college students to check out the store.
I didn’t mean to leave my last post up so long. I actually forgot about it. (yea, right!) Every day since I posted it I had the intention to change it but the store got busy. Today I had a conversation with a customer who mentioned the post which reminded me I had to change it. As soon as I had a moment. Here’s my moment. Late in the afternoon.
As I mentioned earlier it’s been about buying back textbooks today. I’m working with a new company as the previous was recently sold to Penntext.com. Their site is up but it’s going through revision. Should be live soon. Then one can type in an ISBN number and purchase textbooks online. Lauren, the Remote Buyback Coordinator, was in the store for a meet and greet, and go over everything. We were even able to help a mother looking for her son’s college books. Remember when you or your college kids are finished with the books bring them in and I’ll buy them back from you. Cash on the spot. Actually a check but the bank is just a bit away. Then I’ll ship them to Lauren. Well, actually the company in PA.
Today I’ve also been trying to figure out a way to reconfigure the ‘front room’. Where the cash register is. I need a bigger table/counter. I think I’m going to take a door we have in in our garage and make it into a countertop. I like that idea but now I’ve got to come up with an idea of what to lay the door on. Could make bookshelves from other doors. Oh, Rusty! What cha doing? Nothing? Oh, have I got a project for you!
Sorry for no photos. I can’t get my new laptop to recognize my cellphone. That’ll be tomorrow’s project.
Otter Creek Used Books 