Marie: “Oh no!” We all
laugh.
Jeff: “It was the
summertime and I left the door open and the skunk walked in, walked around the
store, then walked back out again. I didn’t do anything, didn’t move. I just
sat there.” We all laugh.
Marie: “Oh my God. He
may have brought you luck.”
Jeff: “I guess.”
Rosemary: “Well,
it made him come to the realization that hey maybe we should look into that
side,” pointing to the larger room.
Jeff: “Actually
that side was occupied, but the lease was up. We decided we wanted it but it
wasn’t available. Two days later we got the call.”
Marie: “How much time
between the time you rented this part and the time you got the call.”
Jeff and Rosemary:
“We got this side in September, but we got the other side maybe in October or
November because we opened in December.”
Rosemary: “Yeah,
because we moved all the stuff over to the other side and didn’t use this side
at all. The owner put this side up (coffee shop side) for rent again. We didn’t
do this side until a year later in order to make the coffee shop.”
Jeff and Rosemary:
“This door was closed and we only did business on the other side. After Jeff
moved all the books to the other side and the owner put this side was up for
sale, but after this side was empty for a year, then we decided to use this
place for the coffee shop>”
Marie: “Perfect! Now,
does having a coffee shop here in the bookstore help bring in more people?”
Rosemary: “I
think so. There are a lot of people who just come in for coffee or they’ll come
in to use their lap top or to sit here and just write. We have a screenwriter
who comes in. He’ll just sit here for hours, doing work.”
Jeff: “They
(bookstore & coffee shop) piggyback well together.”
Marie: “How many years
has the store been opened?”
Rosemary: “It’s
been four years in December.”
Marie: “Are you happy
with your decision to open the shop?”
Jeff: “Yes. I was
a little worried about the money. It was quite expensive, but.”
Rosemary: “But,
not that much more because of the extra size and the owner let us fix up this
room, which was a mess, the way we wanted.”
Marie: “Besides the
bookstore and coffee shop and allowing people to come in and do book signings...”
Just then
Author/Storyteller/ and fellow member of the South Jersey Writers’ Group Laura
Kaighn walks in to say hello. Here is Laura’s site: http://www.ladyhawkestorytelling.com/ Part two of my story of The Book Asylum will feature Laura and the
writing group that she oversees there.
Marie: “Hi Laura,
surprise! I’ll be interviewing you next. So Jeff, besides selling books and
coffee, you began to live music here. When is it and does it help to bring in
more people?”
Jeff and Rosemary:
“We have music every Friday night except for the holidays. January 16th
is our next night for music. For the most parts, the live music has brought in
more people, but I think in time, as more people become aware, it will develop
because of people coming in to hear a band they’re following.”
Marie: “Well, I’ve
been spreading the news and every time we do a book signing here I mention your
bookstore on my blog. I have people, like my neighbors, that hadn’t realized there
was a book store up the Pike. One of my neighbors, sometimes works from home
and is now thinking of taking the ride up here to do his work.”
Rosemary: “There
are a lot of people that live within a mile of us or close by that come here.
We had two different couples that came in today and it was the first time for
both. One of them said, “I’ve rode by here fifty million times, grew up here
and never knew this place was here, now I will be back.” He began asking
questions about what we do and I told him about the writers’ group, the general
writing, the music and that we wanted to do a Poetry night coming up soon and,
we want to do an open-mic soon. He said, “You just totally described my dream,
a coffee shop and a bookstore. I know where I’m going to be coming.”
Marie: Besides
promoting you on my blog, I have a friend who has an online newspaper, NJ Penn.
I’ll let him know about you, too. Now, do you post a schedule of events on your
Facebook page?”
Casting Shadows Trio
Rosemary: “I do
put it on Facebook.”
Jeff: “We’re not
scheduled out right now, but do know about some of the people that are coming
to perform, like the jazz group, Casting Shadows.”
Jeff and Rosemary:
“Casting Shadows, a trio will be playing on the first Friday of every month
starting in March. And, we have a piano duo who wants to come back maybe every
other month. They stay near the front window and we have all different kinds of
music from rock to country to Celtic Irish Band. If anyone wants to know, just
call us up (phone # listed on Facebook page) and ask who will be featured for each Friday night.”
Clan Suibhne Celtic Irish Band
Marie: “You can also
send me the schedule and I’ll share it on my Facebook page and Twitter.”
Jeff: laughing
“We don’t know how to twitter.”
Marie: laughing “Will,
I do and I’ll spread the news. Rosemary, I have a question for you. When Jeff
said that he wanted to open a bookstore, what was your first reaction?”
Rosemary: “Well,
because it’s not the main source of money at first I thought he was doing it
for a retirement plan because when he first got all the books, he realized that
he still needed a place to store the books. It wasn’t helping us having all the
books at home. So, that’s when he, on his own, started looking around and then
he took me and said, “Look!” and I said, “Yes....?” There were sheets on the
windows and it was for rent. He said, “So what do you think?” I’ said, “About
what?” He said, “A bookstore!”
Marie: “Were you
nervous?” We are all laughing.
Rosemary: “I was
surprised, but it sounded like a neat idea and at first it was a part time idea
because we both worked. When it got to the point that it was safe enough for me
to leave my job, we opened up full time and it was definitely worth it doing
that.”
Jeff: “It’s been
two years that we were able to have day hours.”
Marie: “Rosemary,
people do identify with you being here all the time.”
My favorite picture of Jeff & Rosemary
Rosemary: “Yes,
he’s never here because he is always working.”
Jeff: “I’ve moved
on.”
Rosemary: She and
Jeff are laughing “That’s what he thinks.”
Marie: “Jeff, tell me
more about your book restoration, because that is very interesting. It’s so
important.”
Rosemary: “That’s
a side job, and again, it is a side job, but we would go to Virginia and he
would take classes. He has been doing this on the side, but eventually he’ll do
more.”
Jeff: “I want
that to be my retirement job.”
Marie: “Did you have
to buy special equipment to do book restoration?”
Jeff: “I’ve been
buying tools and stuff for the last two years, maybe longer. We have a lot of
old books and they have value, but not enough to send them out to be fixed.”
Rosemary: “That’s
what made you start when we wondered what to do with the books, was it worth
fixing up and getting the money back. But he said, “If I learn to fix it up
myself...”
Jeff: “It was my
time and I liked doing it. It was a no-brainer.”
Rosemary: “He
just did one and it was the History of the Bible. It was from 1868. A customer
found it in the trash it had no front cover.
The restoration was to take it down to just the actual pages and restore
it using the techniques I learned at CatTail Run Bookbinding classes over the
past several years. We were both very
pleased with how it turned out and our customer donated it to his church.
Marie: “Well, it’s
important to let people know that you can do this, especially if this will be
your retirement job. There are a lot of people who have old books.”
Jeff: “Yeah and
people will just show up and not know that we do.”
Rosemary: “I have
people calling up asking if we know someone who does book restoration and I
say, “Yeah.”
Marie: “I’ll get the
word out for you.”
Jeff: “It’s
enjoyable to do, so yeah.”
Marie: “So this
bookstore was a good life choice decision for you both.”
Rosemary: “Yes,
but this side, the coffee shop, made it work. I worked in a Deli and in
Customer Service. I like working with food. This doesn’t have all that yet, but
maybe someday. That’s the plan, but the coffee shop and bookstore work well
together.” Jeff agrees.
Marie: “Well, I do
know that, after going to your chain coffee shops, I feel that I get better
service here and Rosemary will even offer a free tray of cookies or slices of
cake whenever I’m doing a book signing here. Rosemary, you make people who come
into this place feel so comfortable.
I know from experience
that it is nerve racking to do book signings, because I have to be “ON” all the
time and sometimes I’m not feeling my best, but when I come here, you make us
feel so comfortable. That’s why Dawn and I love coming here and it doesn’t
matter if we didn’t sell any books that day, we are having fun hanging out with
you and Jeff.
Rosemary: We are
in the process of starting book clubs and also story time with children,”
pointing to Laura. “Laura is a good storyteller. I just want to have different
things going on.
Jeff: “People
have been asking about Poetry, too.”
Marie: “One of our
members, Jord Fox, does poetry and he might want to do something here, like a
Poetry Night.
Jeff: “Let the
poets in your writers’ group know about this and we can get something off the
ground with this. Plus, I do have big plans in the works for our bookstore, but
you’ll have to come back and interview us in three to six months to find out
what it is.”
Marie Gilbert: “I
can’t wait to find out the big secret in a few months, but for all my readers
out there, drive or take the 400 Patco Bus to The Book Asylum on 26 N
Blackhorse Pike for one hell of a great cup of joe, plenty of books to buy and,
great service. Here is their Facebook Site https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Book-Asylum/127684793971983
I’ll be doing part
two of The Book Asylum’s Writing Group in a few days.
