Last week, we went to an Opening a Bookstore conference In Florida. The seminar was an intensive week of classes covering everything Bookstore. Days were spent on marketing, management, financing, purchasing, staffing, store design and much, much more. With heads spinning, we returned to snowy Sewickley to design and implement a plan to make sure that the Penguin Bookshop is all that everyone dreams it can be and to keep everything moving forward.
One of the best things that happened at the conference was that we established many valuable professional connections and began friendships with several interesting people from all over the country and even Anguilla in the Caribbean. There were two women from Kennebunkport, Maine who are on the same time line as we are for opening their store, Kennebooks. We tried to convince one woman from Florida to come work for the Penguin Bookshop but she has family ties there. We met outgoing friends from Oklahoma who share the dream of owning their own bookstore. The class members included a mother and daughter group from Charlottesville, VA who want to open a children's bookstore patterned off the Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis. There was a woman who just moved with her family to Utah for the outdoor lifestyle, but laments the lack of an independent bookstore. There was also an ESL teacher from Minneapolis, MN who wished that her international ESL students had a place to buy books in their own languages. We met a single mother from Portland, OR who wants to open a bookstore for parents to come together to share and connect. There were many others and it just goes to show that Americans are starting to move away from the big-box stores and are looking for something more personal.
Thanks to our first commenter Lisa R. We would love to hear from anyone who wants to give us feed back as we continue this journey.
My sister in Paris just sent your website to me where I live in Melbourne, Australia. We grew up in Sewickley in the 50's and 60's and fondly remember the Penguin since we were all great readers in our family. I remember regularly stopping into the Penguin in what must have been the very early 1960's to buy another Nancy Drew or Cherry Ames. I read them all and then it became a question of waiting for the publication of the next one, much like I wait now for the next Sue Grafton. We have many independent bookstores here in Melbourne, a city which is a bit of a throwback to Pittsburgh in the 40's, streetcars (trams) and all. There are still lots of mom and pop stores on the high streets although chains are making inroads. I was glad to see that Borders is closing its store here. My sister and I were saddened to see that the Penguin had closed a couple of years ago and thrilled that it was scheduled to reopen. I always tried to go in on each visit home to buy a book over the years. As our mother nears age 90, we are still visiting Sewickley regularly and will visit the Penguin when it opens. Thanks and good luck to you!
Posted by: Katharine Crick | March 18, 2008 at 07:19 PM
Katharine, It was great to hear from you! We will pass your comments along to Margaret, the prior owner who might also enjoy your memories of the Penguin. We are still on track to open in September and hope you will email us before your next visit so that we can be sure to be in the store to meet you. We will have online shopping available in the fall as well, if you ever want to buy books for anyone here locally. In the meantime, it is fun to know that you and your sister are following our progress from Melbourne and Paris! Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Posted by: Karen | March 19, 2008 at 08:33 AM
Hello! I saw the great writeup about the Penguin on the ABA's Bookselling This Week news update.
I am from the Beaver Falls area originally and am now living in Indianapolis. My ultimate goal and dream is to open my own children's bookstore in the next several years. It's a dream I've had forever, and I'm not letting go of it!
I have visited your shop, and I'm so excited to hear of your overhaul. What an exciting time! I will be sure to visit next time I "come home."
I had planned to attend the Paz Booksellers School in Florida. I wish I would have! I could've met you there! Small world! I hope to attend soon--I've heard nothing but wonderful things about it.
At this point, I'm keeping my options open for a bookstore, but have looked seriously in Mt. Lebanon (it's still my dream to come home!) and other locations such as Wilmington, North Carolina. Startup costs are an issue. I have the passion. Just need the funds! :)
I will introduce myself when I stop in the store next time. It'd be nice to have mentors from my hometown area! Congrats on an exciting venture!
Kasey Jackson
Indianapolis, Indiana
(but my heart is still in PA)
Posted by: Kasey | April 10, 2008 at 06:35 PM
Katharine,
Are you the young lady who lived in Paris in the mid 70s?
Posted by: Michael H. Barton | July 27, 2009 at 02:20 AM