Although the Galesburg Public Library was — and is — still available for book lovers, it was a sad day in January 2004 when Dave’s Book & Card Shop closed, leaving downtown Galesburg without a traditional bookstore. In September 2005, Inner Wisdom, 31 N. Kellogg St., a new age bookstore, opened, joining Casey’s Party Creations, 220 E. Main St., as places to buy books in the central business district.
Flip the pages of the book forward to 2009 and there was good news and bad news for bookworms, although the good outnumbered the bad.
The year began with the late January closing of Waldenbooks in Sandburg Mall. The Waldenbooks store here was just one of hundreds closed as parent company Borders tried to fight through the recession.
In May, Brighter Life Bookshoppe Ltd., a Christian bookstore that was a staple on North Henderson Street for many years, moved downtown to the old Illinois Power building, 292 E. Simmons St. That was followed in August by the opening of Stone Alley Books & Collectibles, 53 S. Seminary St. Five years after Dave’s closed, there suddenly were four places to buy books downtown in addition to the library, which also sells books and magazines in addition to loaning out books and DVDs.
What was temporarily a wasteland for book lovers suddenly became a part of town where one could find volumes to satisfy almost every taste.
Despite the four stores and the library, there is little overlap in the types of books each store caries. Dennis Case, owner of Casey’s Party Creations, said the other stores have had little effect on his business.
“I would say it’s basically steady,” Case said of the book portion of his store.
Casey’s may not be the first place that comes to mind for books, but Case carries about 40,000 used paperbacks. The books run the gamut from mystery, thrillers, westerns and science fiction to three different kinds of romance novels and more. They are arranged according to genres.
“The only thing we don’t have is children’s books,” Case said.
Lianna Ita owns Inner Wisdom along with her husband, Chris Ita. Their new age bookstore carries an eclectic selection of books, including self-help, spirituality and alternative healing methods.
“We have some fiction, too,” Lianna Ita said. “Children’s books, metaphysical.”
Because Inner Wisdom also offers yoga and meditation classes, massage, even classes for those who want to learn belly dancing, Ita was asked if she considers the business a bookstore.
“I guess I do consider it a bookstore,” she said after pausing to give the question some thought. “We have the gifts and other things.”
She agreed that having so many bookstores downtown has not been a problem.
“I don’t really think it has affected us that much,” Ita said. “Mostly what has affected us is people being able to order online. We do have a website, but we don’t do online ordering.”
She added that the store carries a small selection of Christian books but not enough to be in serious competition with Brighter Life.
Brighter Life will celebrate its first anniversary downtown on Saturday. Told that Stone Alley and Alternate Realities, a comic book shop, also are having special days May 1, Brighter Life owner Mary Spring said, “It could be like bookstore day downtown.”
Stone Alley also carries new and used books, as well as vinyl records. Owner Ben “Stone” Stomberg has been pleased with the community support his store has received.
Spring said Brighter Life will offer a free lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. There will be door prizes and a sale with 20 percent off all books. A flower, to be planted, will be handed out to the first 100 people in the store.
Business has been good downtown, Spring said, but “last weekend, we had more people going to the old place looking for us.”
She said business was bad this past winter, but it has picked up as the weather has improved.
“The winter was hard, but it was hard for everybody. There’s no doubt in our minds we were supposed to move downtown,” Spring said.
She agreed there is little direct competition with the other stores.
“We thought we were going to carry more secular books, but when Stone Alley opened up, it made sense for him to carry them,” she said. “We do carry a few.”
Spring added that although readers cannot order off the store’s website, orders can be placed in the store for books not in stock.
“We can order just about anything,” she said.
Brighter Life also carries some Christian CDs, but fewer than when the store was on Henderson Street. Spring said they can burn music onto CDs.
“I think there are about 11,000 CDs we can use,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Galesburg Public Library’s board is looking for a site to build a larger building. Depending on finding an acceptable site and securing the financing, construction could begin in five to 10 years. Board members have consistently said a downtown location is preferred. During a number of board meetings, reports have been made that use of audio books and DVDs have been brisk.
more info :-http://www.galesburg.com/features/x749216507/Book-stores-cover-niches
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