Hypothetically speaking, if I were to be having a…ahem…hypothetical mid life crisis, and if I were to suddenly, hypothetically speaking, wake up one day and decide to open/start a small hypothetical book shop in a small country town somewhere yonder, what advice would you give me?
Hypothetical advice, of course.
Thanks euphemism, used books are definitely a huge blip on the hypothetical radar.
Hypothetical or no, midlife crisis or no, I think opening a bookstore is a noble calling.
is a book I read about 10 years ago about how to open a sucessful used bookstore. I searched Amazon, Google, and a few other sites, but I cannot find the title or author. It had an olive green cover and was in trade paperback if that helps at all. Sadly I cannot remember either title or author’s name although it definitely was an American publication. The title was something mundane like How to Open a Used Bookstore" or something very similar.
That book was amazing, it had tons of details, everything from layout, to staff, to signs. Opening a used book store is one of my dream pet projects for either retirement (a long way away) or if I suddenly didn’t have to work, and chose to work just for a “hobby”. ( I know, working for yourself is no picnic, but I’d like to try it sometime…except I doubt I could stand my boss for very long)
The very strange thing was just around the time I had read that book, a bookstore opened down the street from me. The layout, the signs, everything looked very familiar. It was the plan from the book, exactly.
Im hoping someone with better google-mojo than I can help you find this book. And good luck.
After more poking around, Im pretty sure its this book: *How to Make It Big with Your Own Used Book Store * by Leo B. Minton. I could be wrong however, as there was no picture available. I found it on the Abe Books website.
Hope this helps!
I only have one piece of advice: let me know where it is, so I can keep you in business 
(I’m in desperate need of reading material, though, so you’ll have to hurry)
Normal S, much appreciated, I’m going to see if I can find it.
TellMe, ever been to Thabazimbi? 
OK if you’re opening in Thabazimbi it might be a little out of reach for me… Closest I’ve been is Warmbaths, and that seemed like it was forever away
As it happens, I was trying to buy a used book shop last year. I could scrape up the money (about a hundred grand) but I didn’t have the experience to run it. I was counting on having the manager and assistant manager stay on, but both of them got much better positions halfway across the country.
Make no mistake about it, you WILL need some expertise for a book shop. A good book shop owner or manager will know what books to buy at what prices, and how many, for instance.
I have a lot of ideas about how I wanted to run my book shop, and I’d be happy to share them if you (or anyone else) is interested. I will say that it takes a LOT of money and time and effort to run even a small book shop.
Ah, but TellMe, “forever” is exactly the distance you need to travel to find your soul, yes?
Imagine a deserted road, winding through places like Swarthoek and Beestekraal, past signs that speak of Dwaalboom, Silent Valley and Marakele. Imagine checking into that luxury lodge you’ve heard so little about. Imagine sundowners accompanied by the yowling of the jackal, the soft calls of the nightjar. Imagine waking to sound of the hornbill and the coucal, suggesting the possibility of rain.
Imagine sitting quietly, sipping a chai tea, feasting your eyes on row upon row of precious books, and listening for the silent invitation to partake in their wisdom.
Sold!
Now if I just find a gig writing travel reviews so that I can get paid for it…
Thanks Lynn, I’m certainly keen to find out more.
Hmmmm…one hundred grand you say? Dollars?
Hmmmm…in SA Rands that would be…faaaah…k’n…hell…!!!
:eek:
I live in Canada, but I’d visit. You bet I’d visit.
I can’t imagine it would cost you 650K Rand to start a bookshop here… 650K goes a lot farther here than 100K goes in the states… Unless you’re talking about buying cars, that is
In fact, sometimes it’s even a Barnes& noble calling. 
Mellivora, best of luck to you. I don’t have experience in managing a bookstore, but speaking as a customer, remember that different books aren’t fungible - that is, if a person doesn’t find one they want, they rarely are willing to substitute just any other book. The more titles you are able to stock, the better - so for any given amount of shelf space, I think it’s better to have fewer copies of more titles, than more copies of fewer titles.
Another thing is go where the customers are - you don’t want to be in a town so small that everyone in town checks out your store in the first week and decides they’ll stop in again next year and see what’s new. Your best bets are someplace like a town near a college, a military base, a tourist attraction, or a shopping district - something that brings customers into the area. Or at least try to be a well traveled road. And a used book store is probably one of the only businesses that can benefit from other similar businesses - sometimes you can be better off as the third or fourth used bookstore in an area known for them rather than the only used book store in a different area.
According to Amazon, Minton’s “book” is an 18 page pamphlet. Is that the one you’re thinking of?
Call your municipal land-use authority and be sure to find out what hoops you need to jump through. I’m a zoning administrator and people make the mistake of not calling way, way too often, to their regret.