April, 2008
It seems a bit hard to believe that we are nearing May 2008, that most days now reach a temperature of 70 degrees F, and that LifLife has passed its six-month anniversary. With a firm foundation of the day-to-day activities of the store in place, we’ve been focusing our attention on special events and new LitLife programs. Here’s a quick look at some of the great things planned for the month of May:
• Educator Appreciation Event. Join us for special evening hours on Thursday, May 1, from 6-8pm, in celebration of the efforts of educators. We’ll provide food and drinks, offer select discounts on purchased items, and give away prizes and gift cards.
• Romence Gardens & Greenhouses. We’ll be spending the afternoon on Saturday, May 3, at Garden Party 2008, held at Romence Gardens & Greenhouses, located at 265 Lakeside Drive NE. Visit our display table, sample some food, and enter raffles to win copies of the display books and gift cards.
• Wealthy Street Spring Fling 2008. Keep your schedule open for Saturday, May 17, as Wealthy Street will be celebrating the warmer weather with our annual Spring Fling. Enjoy special shopping events along the entire business district, food and drinks, raffles and give-aways, as well as sidewalk sales.
• Meet and Greet with Paula Nangle. On Thursday, May 29, from 6:30-8:30pm, we’ll be hosting Nangle in her first Grand Rapids appearance! She’ll be talking about her new novel, The Leper Compound, as we provide appetizers and drinks.
In addition to these great events, LitLife is planning to introduce a few other new programs for our customers, including our LitLifer Loyalty Program, summer activities for kids, a summer Book Club Open House, and a Book-of-the-Month feature. We’re also integrating our used book inventory onto the store shelves, so be sure to look for our Gently Read stickers for great prices on barely-used titles.
A few other items of interest:
*I had the great opportunity to travel to London this month to attend the London BookFair. I joined a dozen other U.S. booksellers in representing the States at the event, and had an amazing time: met authors and publishers, explored the literary history of the city, exchanged ideas with both U.S. and U.K. booksellers, and visited some exceptional bookstores. It was a memorable experience, and I returned to Grand Rapids anxious to apply some of the things I saw or heard about here at LitLife.
*LitLife has just learned that we are the proud recipient of a Grand Rapids Historic Preservation Award in the category of Outstanding Historic Preservation Project by an Individual! The awards will be distributed in a televised ceremony with Mayor Heartwell on May 13. What a wonderful validation of all the time, effort, and money spent in creating this special little bookstore!
Stay tuned for more details about our new programs and events. And, as always, please feel free to share your questions, concerns, and comments with your independent neighborhood booksellers—we’d love to hear from you. Happy Spring to you and yours!
- Posted by Roni • Sun, April 27, 2008 - 4:44 pmFebruary 2008
Well, there has been a bit of delay since my last Blog posting, and thankfully, it is because we have been busy at LitLife! Since entering into 2008, we have been focusing on updating our inventory, hosting after-hours Book Club sessions, rearranging the store based on customer feedback, and planning our first Spring events. Michael, the store manager, has been busy researching young American writers, and has created a new display featuring “Hip American Writers,” including Junot Diaz, Dave Eggers, Nathan Englander, and Claire Messud. Keep checking our website (and the display table in the store) as we feature other great writers that fit into the “H.A.W.” category throughout the next month (and feel free to suggest authors that we might have overlooked!).
Now that we are almost into our sixth month of business here at LitLife, we’ve noticed a few things worthy of comment:
(1) Repeat customers who are purposely making an effort to shop locally at our little independent bookstore. Thank you!
(2) Appreciation for the great smell in our store (courtesy of Root Candles, purchased from Lenn and Mike, owners of our favorite home and garden shop Wealthy at Charles.
(3) Comments regarding our inventory, suggesting it is well-informed and appropriate for a literary bookstore like ours.
(4) The pleasure in seeing a parent and child, sitting on our couch in front of the fireplace, enjoying a book together. After all of the recent news suggesting that fewer and fewer Americans are reading at all, it is wonderful to see parents who still encourage all of the good that comes with reading a great book to a child.
(5) Buzz on Wealthy Street regarding new renovation projects, store openings, restaurant happenings, and the completion of the road construction and beautification plans. Watch our website for more information on Wealthy Street events, especially the upcoming Spring Fling.
In terms of events here at LitLife, we’ve got a lot to look forward to in 2008. We are in the midst of planning our first Book Club Open House (a chance to hear about great new books to consider for Book Club reading, and to mingle with other Book Club members while enjoying a little food and drink), an Educator Appreciation Night (a celebration for educators, with book specials, food and drink, and prize drawings), and several author readings and meet-and-greet sessions (including the first area appearance for Paula Nangle, author of The Leper Compound).
Thank you for your ongoing interest in LitLife, and once again, please share your comments, questions, concerns with us. We are truly YOUR neighborhood independent bookstore.
- Posted by Roni • Wed, February 27, 2008 - 10:19 amNovember - December
Another month has come and gone, and LitLife is well into its third month of business now. November brought a number of wonderful surprises, events, and stories to our literary adventure on Wealthy Street.
Early in the month, LitLife managed to move its Halloween merchandise out of the way to make room for Thanksgiving items. This shift was, of course, most noticeable in the cookbook section, where fantastic references for Thanksgiving meals were prominently on display, along with a few select gift items to make the holiday more appealing.
On November 8th, we were asked to attend the Neighborhood Business Alliance and Neighborhood Ventures Award Ceremony at Wealthy Street Theatre. Nominated for the Best Interior Renovation, we were pleasantly surprised to hear Mayor Heartwell call our name for the prize! We received a great certificate (just waiting to be framed), and a wonderful Lucite plaque that holds pride of place near our cash register. Though one doesn’t necessarily complete such projects for the sake of recognition, we appreciate the reception of community with regard to the time and efforts spent in converting the Old Kent Bank building into the bookstore it is today. (A photomontage of the renovation is available on the website – just click on the Photos link in About the Store).
Now, as winter has arrived, we are getting ready for the Holiday season. On Thursday, December 6th, we took part in the Wealthy Street Holiday Stroll. We featured live music with a violinist, guitarist, and vocalist, served a special blend of Harney & Sons Holiday Tea, offered sweet treats, and held a prize drawing for a tea set (congratulations to Dawn, our winner!). We have lots of wonderful ideas for holiday gifts, including books, reading and writing accessories, stocking stuffers, decorations and ornaments, tea sets, and more.
With more than 60 days of business gone by, we are starting to realize what fun it is to be part of the Wealthy Street business neighborhood. We’ve had great fun getting to know our customers (and their reading preferences), sharing stories with other business members on the block, finding new inventory that just might not be found elsewhere in Grand Rapids, and navigating the challenges of the bookselling world. As we near 2008, we hope to offer some new and updated features at the store. We’re working on a loyalty club (we can’t discount like the big-box chain stores, but we love the idea of rewarding loyal customers), hosting book groups, sponsoring author events and book signings, and developing other offerings (birthday buckets for kids, gift registry, etc). Be sure to check our website often as we make our way into the New Year. Happy Holidays to you and yours from both of us at LitLife!