I resigned from B&N two weeks ago.
To put it simply, you can take the girl
out of the indie bookstore but you can't take the indie bookstore out
of the girl.
And it was high time I kicked my own
butt into gear and got back to where I belong.
The decision to walk away from a weekly
paycheck into voluntary unemployment was not a difficult one to make.
I have no regrets.
I've dreamed of running my own
bookstore and I've spent my ten post-college-graduation years
pursuing the required hands-on knowledge in order to accomplish this
goal. I've worked the bookfloor, the receiving room, the information
desk, cashwrap. I've paid attention to booksellers with twenty years
experience, assistant and general managers, CEOs and CFOs, and I've
made sure to ask questions of all of them. I've studied catalogs,
sales trends, the community, its readers, and its needs. I've watched
the ebook trend like a hawk and asked for hands-on training. I've
networked, read, and studied. It is high time I take those
experiences and put them to work.
Cleveland already has a thriving indie
bookstore community but there are still areas of great opportunity,
with existing local government and shopowner support. There are
readers out there looking for a community bookstore that can bring
their favorite authors, support classrooms and non-profits, supply
storytimes for little ones and bookclubs for all ages. There are
empty storefronts dying for brightly colored displays, local
businesses looking for networking partners, and an upcoming holiday
season that could signal an economic turnaround.
And I have a group of former indie
booksellers who are dying to get back in the biz as much as I am.
I have the experience to open my own
store. I have the staff waiting on a call. I have friends and family
who fully support the dream. Through Twitter, I have strangers who
have become cheerleaders. I don't have the money – yet. But I know
who to go to in order to figure that part out. I'm going to join the
ABA, hopefully get to Wi7, and scrounge up the money to head to a Paz
& Associates workshop. I have other contacts who are offering
their professional advice, contacts, and full support. And I have
people already asking if I'm looking for a business partner.
I have all of the parts for a fully
functioning, financially successful, world-class bookstore.
I just have to put it all together.
I welcome the challenge.
