Joan Scott was working as a congressional aide in Washington, D.C., in 1984, when she spotted an ad in PW for a bookstore for sale in Southern Pines, N.C., an upscale town with a population of roughly 10,000 located in an area known as the Sandhills. A few years earlier, Scott had attended an ABA Booksellers school, and after visiting the bookstore with her husband, the two bought the store. This month, the Country Bookshop celebrates its 50th anniversary, with Scott at the helm for 19 years.
Although Scott had reservations about the store's original size (1,000 square feet), she liked its location on the main street of what she calls "a very successful downtown" in an area that is a mecca for golfers, former diplomats and wealthy retirees. Last year, she relocated the store to a 2,700-sq.-ft. space on the first level of an early—20th-century building with pressed tin ceilings and maple floors.
Scott said there has been a "big jump" in sales since the store doubled in size, despite the national economic downturn. The store doesn't feel much competition from a Waldenbooks in adjacent Pinehurst or a Barnes & Noble farther away in Fort Bragg. The Country Bookshop's strength is in history and biography, fiction, children's, titles of regional interest, and books for golfing and horse enthusiasts.
"I am always amazed by Joan's energy and passion for this business," noted Random House/Ballantine/BDD rep Warren Bost. "She always has one ear cocked and listening for what's happening in the store during our meetings. But I never mind an interruption, because I know I'm going to watch her solve a problem, make a sale or give back to her community in some fashion." Scott's small office is in the middle of the store, from which she oversees a staff of three full-time employees and five part-timers.
Scott's customers like to "stay on top of things," she said. Her quarterly newsletter, the "Book Hound Report," is full of event announcements and summaries of new arrivals. She also compiles the bestseller lists for the Sunday book pages of the local newspaper, the Pilot, and the store regularly hosts book club meetings and current-events seminars.
