BookSmart, Morgan Hill’s independent bookstore, will be
celebrating 10 years in business next week.
”
We wouldn’t be here without the support of the community,
”
said Brad Jones, who with his wife Cinda Meister, took over the
store on Monterey Road at West Second Street in 1994 after a
previous bookstore closed in the same space.
BookSmart, Morgan Hill’s independent bookstore, will be celebrating 10 years in business next week.
“We wouldn’t be here without the support of the community,” said Brad Jones, who with his wife Cinda Meister, took over the store on Monterey Road at West Second Street in 1994 after a previous bookstore closed in the same space.
To honor that community support, the store will offer its “buy one, get the second for half price” deal during its annual birthday party, from Nov. 20 to Nov. 24.
On Wednesday, the store will offer free ice cream cones for everyone and will give balloons to the kids.
Children’s author Karen Beaumont will be there from 2 to 4pm, and the store will hold a drawing for two American Girls dolls.
BookSmart frequently holds author readings, and on Dec. 11, children’s author Stephen J. Harper will read from his illustrated holiday book “One Christmas Story” at 2pm.
Meister and Jones started their store with a mere 300 titles – less than some customers’ own libraries.
Now they have more than 60,000, spanning the entire range of topics, plus a large selection of children’s books.
That success has allowed the couple to expand into toys (Thinker Toys), cards and gifts (The Love Bug) and their new coffee, sandwich and soon-to-be-wine bar (Caffee, Kaffee, Vin) – all separate downtown Morgan Hill shops.
Opening the three other stores has left more room for books at the flagship store at 17415 Monterey Road.
“The community has been wonderful,” Meister said. “Without them we would have had no chance.”
It wasn’t easy. The pair started the store when Amazon.com had burst on the book-buying scene and when the big box bookstores began moving in everywhere, creating a tough market for local independent bookstores.
Community support has helped BookSmart thrive in an area without a four-year college – a tough prospect for any local bookstore.
For more information, go to www.mybooksmart.com or call (408) 778-6467.
Staff Reports
