Asheville has evolved into a book lover's paradise

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"We are lucky in Asheville. We are an art destination and theprevalence of bookstores here goes hand in hand with the notableartists, said Chan Gordon, who with his wife Miegan, has sold usedand rare books at The Captains Bookshelf  Ashevilles oldestbookstore  since 1976.

When we opened, there were tumbleweeds blowing down HaywoodStreet, Gordon said. We have become a destination simply becauseweve been around so long. In many ways, we are fueled by thebook-minded tourist coming from Charlotte, Atlanta, Knoxville, evenWashington, D.C.

While independent bookstores nationwide struggle as they competeagainst national chains such as Barnes & Noble, discounters such asWal-mart and Internet booksellers like Amazon, veteran booksellerslike Gordon have survived and even thrived in Asheville. In thetown that gave birth to literary legends such as Thomas Wolfe andCharles Frazier, readers like to buy books locally, Gordon said.

But Asheville has seen recent turnover in booksellers. The AtlanticBooks closed on Lexington Avenue this spring after relocatingseveral years ago from Charleston, S.C. On May, Gillian Coats put af0r-sale sign on the door of The Readers Corner, a used bookstore,which had operated on Montford Avenue for 11 years.

Bookselling is still a struggle, Gordon admitted. The streets arenot lined with gold, but we just happen to live in a place withlots of visitors who support the arts, he said. Threat of rising rents

Emoke BRacz opened Malaprops Bookstore in 1982. With a focus onpoetry, feminist issues, Southern and regional writers, Malapropshas become a downtown institution, hosting readings by writers fromacross the nation.

I think book selling is a dream, not really a business, BRaczsaid in an interview last year. We dont compete against anyone,but we are realistic.

That blend of idealism and realism helped BRacz build herbusiness. She has moved into the used book market, opening DowntownBooks on Lexington Avenue in 1988. In 2000, Publishers Weekly namedMalaprops its bookseller of the year, the first Southern seller towin that distinction.

Asheville is unusual from what I hear from other booksellersacross the Southeast, said Linda Barrett Knopp, the storesgeneral manager. Our sales are up, and Ashevilles local economyseems pretty healthy. People are very supportive of us.

Knopp credits some of Malaprops ongoing success to a generouslandlord. The Haywood Street location is owned by Public InterestProjects, the for-profit company launched by philanthropist JulianPrice to boost the downtown area.

Until recently, The Captains Bookshelf had the same landlord, butPublic Interest Projects decided to sell the Page Avenue buildingthat is home to the bookstore in order to settle taxes due onPrices estate.

Bookstores are businesses that require significant amounts ofsquare footage. As property values rise, that square footagebecomes more precious, Gordon said.

You cant survive in a high-traffic location, especially if yourea store meant for casual browsing, he added. I mean, were 32years old and we still dont have a cash register.

The Gordons became minor partners in a group that bought thebuilding for $1.3 million. We have a favorable lease now, andwere here for the foreseeable future, Gordon said. Secret of service

Down in Biltmore Village, Stan Collins has been selling childrensbooks at Once Upon a Time for the past 15 years. I think thatAsheville may be unique in the number of independent bookstores,he said.

People are really committed and dedicated readers have a tendencyto patronize us independents. They know when they come into anindependent store, that the people there really know the books. Ireally try to read each of the books that comes in my store,Collins said.

In North Asheville, Lewis Sorrells and Patrick Covington aremarking the 25th anniversary of Accent on Books, the independentthat specializes in childrens titles, theology and spirituality.

Independents succeed by focusing on service and in-depth knowledgeof whats new and whats good to read, Sorrells said. Even withreader recommendations on Amazon.com, the Internet cant duplicatethe physical sensation of browsing along a shelf of new or usedbooks. Theres that aesthetic sense of actually holding the bookin your hand, Sorrells said.

Barnes & Noble, meanwhile, has found Asheville a good place forbusiness. After outgrowing its current store on South Tunnel Road,which opened in 2000, the bookseller is building a 35,988 squarefeet store at the Asheville Mall, due to open in 2009. At thattime, the chain plans to close the B. Dalton store, which it alsoowns, inside the mall.

Barnes & Noble is also expanding its presence into South Ashevillewith a new store under construction at the Biltmore Park TownSquare project. That store is set to open this fall.

But the independents dont seem overly concerned by that expansion.Its amazing to me how loyal our customers are, Covington said.They can go to Barnes & Noble and buy many books cheaper, but somany have stuck with us. Webshapes used book business

After 11 years dealing in used books, Gillian Coats was ready towrite a new chapter in her life.

On May 17, she pasted a f0r-sale sign on The Readers Corner, theused bookstore she operated on Montford Avenue. It was time for meto move on, Coats said.

Bookselling is a labor of love that runs in her family. Her father,Irv Coats, has operated The Readers Corner in Raleigh since 1976.

With used books, you buy a bunch of books, and pay 15 to 25percent of what you think you can sell it for, Coats said. Youwind up not selling perhaps 80 percent of what you buy.

The Internet has revolutionized the used book business. Now anyonearound the world can go online and find any used title imaginable,while prices for used books have flattened. A popular novel that Imight have sold for $10 now sells online for a $1, Coats said.

That affected the amount she could pay for used books coming intothe store. People dont like getting $1 for a book they might havepaid $25 to buy and read.

But many used bookstores have found the Internet to be a gold mine,Coats said, including her fathers store, which specializes inselling technical and research textbooks online.

Chan Gordon of The Captains Bookshelf, which deals in rare andantique books, agreed that the Internet has been a doubled-edgedsword, raising the price of hard-to-find books and flattening thecosts of others.

The Internet has made the rare book rarer, Gordon said. Thefirst edition of Thomas Wolfes Look Homeward, Angel hasescalated in price rapidly, while a seventh printing edition ofCharles Fraziers Cold Mountain has gone down in monetary value.

Still, the used book business has been steady, particularly inAsheville, Coats said. She hopes to find a new buyer for her storewith its full stock of 20,000 books, DVDs, CDs and vinyl records.

In the meanwhile, shell serve as interim director of the MediaArts Project, and she has launched her own New MediacastProductions, a company specializing in podcasts and other audioprograms for online users.