Having the opportunity to do the bookstore interview was a great experience and an eye opener. When I was looking in my town for a bookstore, not many came to mind. There was the one I went to as a child in the mall, but it had recently closed. Other than that one, nothing really came to mind. It made me realize that bookstores aren’t very popular in my town and that the ease of ordering online has created an environment in which people don’t need to go to a bookstore any more. They can just order online.
There is really only one bookstore in my town, Under the Cover. This bookstore is the only romance bookstore and wine bar in South Carolina. Under the cover provides a unique experience for their customers. The customers are able to come, select a book to read, and enjoy their book while sitting on their comfortable furniture and sipping a drink if they want.
The staff at Under the Cover was extremely friendly and answered any questions that I had. They shared information about how the store came about and the process of the first few months before opening. The store came about as a joke between the owner and her daughter. It is amazing in life, how simple comments can make such a huge difference in people’s lives. What the daughter and mother thought would just be a joke, wound up being a reality just a few months later. Sometimes we just need that small word to get us going in the direction we want to go.
The opening process was hard work and hot! When the staff first started opening, they had to clean the shop and organize the books. There was no air conditioning or running water so they had to work in the heat and be at the mercy of their neighbors for restrooms. Their neighbors were more than happy to help them. The group had to have a vision and a plan prior to starting which made the process a lot easier. Although it was still hard work, the plan kept them on task.
Under the Cover hosts many different events. The foot traffic is what helps with getting customers in the store and interesting in their bookstore. They host events such as book signings, business meetings, and the most unique I saw was the blind date. This was a book that was wrapped and different phrases were written on the cover. This would give the reader an idea of what the book was about without the reader actually knowing what the book was. They wanted to spark interest in the reader prior to the reader passing judgement on the book before they even gave the book a chance. I liked this idea because I thought it would be something I could use in my library. A lot of times, students pass judgement on books before even giving them a chance. This would be a way for them to get interested before even seeing the book cover.
The bookstore does a great job also with sponsoring small businesses and displaying their items in their store. They had items such as jewelry and even had cats in the display window for customers to adopt. They tried to encompass as much as possible and maximize the opportunities within their business.
Overall, this was a great eye opening experience for me. I was able to visit a new place, discuss the opening process with the workers and see their vision come to life. It will definitely be a place I will visit again.