Bookselling in West Virginia “hasn't evolved as quickly as in the rest of the nation,” said Jessica Messinger, owner of Huntington 's three-year-old Empire Books and News. West Virginia was the last of the 50 states to have a Barnes & Noble, when the chain opened a store in Morgantown in 2005. The state's economy likely contributed to the chain's late entry; West Virginia ranks last nationally in median household income. Maybe because of the slow migration of chain stores to the state, longstanding independents like Taylor Books in Charleston have become entrenched in their communities, while new stores like Empire and Elkins's four-year-old Main Line Books are also doing well. Most booksellers cite big box stores, as well as the Internet, as their major competitors.
This Appalachian state is nestled between several geographical regions, its borders touching the South, the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic. In the northernmost reaches of the state, many residents identify with Pittsburgh. Increasingly, eastern regions tend to be considered part of the greater Washington-Baltimore metro area. The state's capital and largest city, Charleston, is closer to the Ohio and Kentucky borders. Regional diversity aside, local books and authors do well. Taylor Books, the state's largest independent, maintains a section for West Virginia authors, as well as a Southern fiction area. In Fort Ashby, in the northeastern corner, Fort Ashby Books's Lilo Eder devotes one room of her store to West Virginia literature; she said Civil War literature is also popular, especially among newcomers to the area.
Charleston's population includes more lawyers, politicians and bankers than much of the rest of this largely blue-collar state, and Taylor Books, which has an art gallery and a coffee shop, reflects this. The store has been open for 13 years, and its clientele is very loyal. “Our customers want to support a local store,” said manager Michelle Kenstler. A Borders Express opened in a nearby mall after Taylor Books did, but that hasn't affected traffic patterns in the store as much as subsequent suburban development has; Saturday, which used to be the store's busiest day, is now its slowest. But the downtown store still gets good walk-in traffic day and night. Offering pottery and painting classes, and live music on Friday and Saturday evenings, when customers can purchase wine by the glass, helps keep it lively.
For some stores, high-quantity orders from the department of education help keep sales up. Hearthside Books in Bluefield, in the southern part of the state, estimates about 25% of its business to be school board ordering. And though Hearthside does not discount general purchases, owner Ann Hess does mark down school orders. Fort Ashby's Eder also finds it worthwhile to make a 25%-off exception for schools.
In-store sidelines have also boosted business for indy booksellers. In Elkins, a small town of 7,000 near several ski resorts, Main Line Books does well with Melissa & Doug toys, since Elkins's remoteness means there isn't another convenient toy source. Owner Vickie Roidt has also added two card lines, a selection of journals and a line of locally made wooden bookmarks. In Huntington, Messinger devotes a large portion of her store to greeting cards, including gift bags, wrapping paper and stationery, and since there is no toy shop in the Huntington area, she too carries a small selection from various vendors.
The eastern parts of the state have seen the most population growth recently. “Washington is pushing out to this area,” said Fort Ashby's Eder. Her store is 15 miles from parts of Maryland, and she said the rural area is growing tremendously, with many second and retirement homes owned by Washington-Baltimore locals. But business has slowed down generally in the past few years, which Eder attributes to Amazon, as well as local big-box stores.
Even further to the east, at Four Seasons Books in Shepherdstown, owner Michael Raubertas has been working on Internet sales over the past five years, but thus far it hasn't taken off yet. “People don't think of us as an online store,” said Raubertas. “The reason people shop here is because they like the service and atmosphere. Once you're online, all of that is gone.”
Bookselling Health IndexHousehold Income: $31,008Population: 1,815,000Independent Bookstores: 20Chain Bookstores: 12Total Bookstores: 32Big-box Stores: 42Total Stores: 74Stores per Capita: 1 per 24,527Per Capita Rank: 32
