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Photos by Eric Taunton.
Little Professor is one of the two independent bookstores in Homewood that found ways to navigate the pandemic.
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Photos by Eric Taunton.
Alabama Booksmith is one of the two independent bookstores in Homewood that found ways to navigate the pandemic.
During the pandemic, small businesses throughout the country, including independent bookstores, faced a great deal of uncertainty.
In Homewood, however, independent bookstores Little Professor and Alabama Booksmith found they had chips stacked in their favor.
For Alabama Booksmith, it was its niche and its reach. For Little Professor, it was the Homewood community.
Two weeks before the pandemic started, Jonathan and Meredith Robinson had just bought Little Professor from its previous owners.
They saw an opportunity to “revitalize” the store, Meredith said.
“I have three young children, and the biggest thing that we saw was that it just needed new life as far as reengaging young families, which is what so much of Homewood is comprised of,” Meredith said.
When the inside of their new store was closed, the store had to immediately create an online presence that it didn’t have before in order to be able to make online sales, Meredith said.
Even as new business owners, the store still had many customers with a heavy desire to shop at Little Professor, Meredith said.
“We would help one person at a time at the door,” Meredith said. “There would be one staff member inside, and then customers would come by to pick something up and still have a person-to-person, very quick, handoff.”
People would also point to books, browse for books through their window and text staff members for book recommendations, she said.
“There is some real traction about having that trust in a person, which only happens with local stores, where they’re still reaching out directly for connectivity, recommendations, being known and day-to-day interactions with our staff,” Meredith said.
Jake Reiss, owner of Alabama Booksmith, said his store wasn’t affected by the pandemic like other bookstores around the world.
“I’ve been interviewed many times by many folks on this, and our standard response is that strategic planning takes a back seat to blind luck,” Reiss said.
Alabama Booksmith appeals to a niche community around the world, specializing in signed first edition books, which helped the bookstore sustain itself during the pandemic.
“As far as we can tell, we’re the only bookstore on the planet that sells [exclusively] signed books,” Reiss said. “Most folks who are avid readers really don’t care if the book is a hardback, paperback, signed or not signed, but there are many to whom it is extremely important.”
Reiss said signed editions are important to collectors, people who after they read their books, keep them and put them on the shelves. They’re also important to folks that give them as birthday, Christmas and wedding gifts, he said.
The majority of Alabama Bookstore’s business comes from online book sales, even prior to the pandemic, he said. The bookstore sells signed first edition books to all 50 states in the United States and over 100 foreign countries, Reiss said.
Independent bookstores offer a “familiarity” and “warmth” that isn’t found in retail bookstores such as Books-A-Million or Barnes and Noble Booksellers, Meredith said.
“I think there is some sort of aesthetic that provides a warmth that feels very different than something that is done by a big-box retailer,” Meredith said. “I think the difference between the two is that it’s not a transactional purchase. That’s what we really pride ourselves on.”