Well, every story should begin with "Once Upon a Time" so that's how I'll begin.

Once upon a time, two women of vastly different ages, but related by marriage and common interest, started playing a verbal game nearly every time they were together.   It went something like this:  "If I ever had a bookstore of my own, I would have cozy chairs and a fireplace".  "If I ever had a bookstore of my own, I'd want to have story time for kids."  If I ever had a bookstore of my own, I would definitely include a coffee shop.".  After months of these lively conversations over coffee, or across the pinochle table, one day my husband asked the inevitable question:  "Are you going to talk about this forever or are you going to do it"?  Until that moment, all the talk had seemed only talk, but his question made us realize that we already had a good mental business plan in place.

 

Another family member had access to a book called The Manual on Bookselling.  This book, written in the 80's, was like a step-by-step guide to opening a bookstore.  We started reading through it and making notes.  We did a demographic study, made lists of our favorite books and started looking for potential locations.  Pretty soon, like the proverbial snowball, the momentum increased with the excitement and we started admitting to ourselves and others that we were pursuing our dream.

Having ruled out the romantic notion of a multi-level Victorian era house for our store, we found a couple of other dreamers who were working on restoring an old fruit warehouse.  From the first days of seeing the inside, complete with freezing cold, bare light bulbs and damp floors, we were swept in by the visionary and gifted architect who could "see" restored wood floors, open beams, atrium, and huge fish tanks.  We signed an "intent to lease" and the snowball increased speed exponentially. 

We got a business license and wrote a business plan.  We set up accounts with publishers and distributors.  We bought an espresso machine and chose a local coffee roaster.  We researched how many books we could carry in the number of square feet that we had available.  We mapped out sections of the store and chose a name and logo.  We researched gift items that we wanted to carry and visited the regional gift center many times.  We were excited, nervous and propelled with purpose.  I remember the day we ordered the eight foot high custom shelving as the day when I realized we had reached the point of no-return.  That realization only increased our energy and excitement.

All through these months, our families filled all the gaps we found or created.   Custom design and decoration, computer skills, staining and finishing shelving, and countless other tasks were done lovingly and at no charge by our loved ones who believed in our dream, too.  Nearly every member of our family and most of our friends had a part in making this dream a reality.  It would have been impossible on our own.

When we opened the doors on September 18, 2000, we had that kind of "blind date" feeling of wondering if anyone would come.  How gratifying it was to have people come in and rave over our beautiful "baby", telling us it was "a Seattle kind of place" - a huge compliment.  The building that was Inklings first home was also filled with many other locally-owned small businesses and the first few years were a buzz of activity.  It was truly the place in town to be.  Our families didn't get a lot of hot meals during those busy times, but we met so many new friends who became our loyal customers that it was a happy whirlwind.

My beautiful and talented partner had to leave us.  Life doesn't always turn out the way we think it will.  I had serious questions about my ability to carry on without her present.  She made me look good in so many ways.  I will always be indebted to her as co-conspirator,  creative and intelligent business partner and the mother of my first grandchild.  Her fingerprints remain on every part of the Inklings landscape.  I miss her a great deal.

After six years in the warehouse, it became necessary to look for a new location with better visibility and foot-traffic.  We found a fabulous location less than a mile away that met all our needs.  We bravely increased our square footage and started planning our monumental move.  Tens of thousands of books and gifts had to be moved in a sequential and organized manner over as few days as possible.  Again, friends and family rallied.   I can never repay what I owe them.

We are now celebrating our 9th anniversary.  I remember what a milestone and relief we felt when we made it for 5 years.  Now we are approaching 10.  I have the most wonderful and gifted staff anywhere.  My manager can totally run things when I'm gone and many days even when I'm here!  The other booksellers each bring their own personality and flavor to make our store a unique, interesting and sometimes quirky literary smorgasbord. 

There is much I can't recount here.  Those of you who have lived it with us know the joy and pain, good times and bad that we have encountered on this journey, but we have never doubted the care and goodness of God in letting us do what we love most:  tell people we love about books we love.  Thank you friends and family for your faithful support over these 9 years.  Kids have grown tall and hair has gone gray but books have continued feeding our minds and hearts.  We have a lot to be thankful for.  And we have a lot more books to unpack.