Bookstores Reborn in Lexington and New Orleans
By Edward Nawotka -- Publishers Weekly, 7/10/2008 12:58:00 PM
Three decades ago Lexington, Ky.’s beloved Morris Book Shop closed. This weekend, the store will celebrate its long awaited reopening in a new 1,700 sq.-ft. location. “It’s amazing to me how many people remember the store and how much goodwill we’ve garnered,” said Wyn Morris, co-owner of the store along with Hap Houlihan who is the great-nephew of the original proprietor, Joe Houlihan.
Morris and Houlihan are bookselling and publishing veterans. Both worked at the Lexington location of Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Prior to opening the store, Morris was sales manager of the University of Kentucky Press, where Houlihan was also working, responsible for rights, permissions and exhibits.
The motivation for opening the bookstore came in the wake of the death of Morris’s father and stepmother in a plane crash, and the subsequent loss of his mother to cancer. “It was the combination of a kind of midlife crisis—the realization that life is short—and of a lifelong dream,” said Morris.
With the two booksellers’ extensive knowledge of Kentucky literature, the duo plan to emphasize local interest titles. This weekend’s opening event will feature a signing with Jeffrey Scott Holland, author Weird Kentucky, an old friend of the two. “It’s a Sterling/B&N title, but we won’t hold it against him,” joked Houlihan. B&N and, for that matter, Joseph-Beth, are on the booksellers' minds: “The word selection has typically been used by big box stores to refer to a gross number,” said Houlihan, “We’re trying to use the word selection as a more active verb. It’s not that we stock books that B&N and Joseph-Beth don’t have, but here you can find them. Our size, in that way, is our greatest asset.”
On July 1 another bookstore was reborn, this time in New Orleans. The Afro-American Book Stop reopened some two and a half years after it closed following Hurricane Katrina. The new 1,500 sq.-ft. storefront is located in the neighborhood of East New Orleans, down the street from the store’s previous location.
Owner Michele Lewis, who currently runs the store with her mother as the only other employee, had spent the last two years selling books online and organizing book sales and author appearances for a variety of festivals around the state. She is encouraged by the initial response. “A few years ago after Katrina there weren't enough people home yet to support a store,” Lewis admitted. “Since I'd taken two years off, several thousands of people have returned to the area.” The opening was timed to coincide with the Essence Music Festival, which gave Lewis the opportunity to host a handful of bestselling authors for readings, including Zane, Mary B. Morrison and Victoria Christopher Murray. Author E. Lynn Harris is scheduled to sign at the store at the end of the month. “At first I was a little frightened,” said Lewis, “but it has been exciting to be back in the storefront. In our first week we’ve seen a lot of customers and sold a lot of books.”
