Saturday 24th June is our 3rd birthday at Variety Bookroom. I suspect there are more than a few people around the Moe area that are surprised we’ve made it so long. And I suppose the truth is that it’s our passion for books that has kept us going rather than any passion for making heaps of money.
We have good months and not-so-good months, good days and bad days. Some days it feels like the only people who come in are people who want to complain about something. Or people who expect us to magically find something that nobody else has been able to find. I mean, thanks for the compliment but, sad to say, there are still some things that we can’t do.
Most days are not like that of course. We have many wonderful customers and I am especially humbled by the ones who tell me that they could get some books a bit cheaper elsewhere, or online, but they come to us because they want to support local business. And because they just love browsing in bookshops!
I found this quote recently: “Bookstores are one of the outward and visible signs of the inward truth of the central role of the book in the maintenance and augmentation of the culture. Absent the book, the fate of humankind would be that of still primitive savages… So salute the culture the book imparts and make use of the bookstores, which bring to the reader the enjoyment of the old and new fruits of culture.” (Richard Abel, in “The Art of the Bookstore”, Gibbs M Smith, 2009)
We often use the slogan “Live Richly” in our advertising. And we count it a real privilege to help people do just that!
Now if I can just convince my accountant and bank manager… Ah well. I guess you can’t have everything!
Steve