Imagine an entire bookstore crammed into a storage unit. The Eclectic Reader spent seven months in storage. Springtime 2014 finally came and brought a new lease on a retail space…one that I had been looking at since before we closed.
After a lot of work was done cleaning, repairing, and laying carpet, my work began. Once again the strong, efficient, and simply amazing Billy Goat Moving Co. employees “picked up” the whole store (over 500 boxes of books and all the bookcases, tables, chairs and other bookstore furniture) and laid it down in the empty space that was to be our new home. Now it was my job to unpack, organize and create a bookstore out of emptiness.
With jump-start help from my friends and some volunteers: Cheryl Lynn, Judy Jackson, Noah Dalbow, Rich Fennig, Camille Birck, Annie, Art Griffiths, Joe Hutchinson, and Carol Meyer, the process began. These photos illustrate the early evolution of the creation of the bookstore from the ground up.
Because my first month was not rent-free, I opened the doors for business on May 10th while I was still unboxing.
We must have done something right, because today I receive ongoing compliments on the look and feel of the bookstore. Come on in and see for yourself.
The Eclectic Reader 