A New Chapter for Lewisburg

BY BELINDA ANDERSON

A New Chapter Bookstore began with David Craddock’s childhood love of books.

“My mother started taking me to the public library when I was a pre-teen and I always enjoyed books,” he says. “I always had in my mind I wanted to open a bookstore.” He had some retail experience, too. “I worked my way through school selling shoes on commission.”

And then one day in 2017 the retired lawyer and his wife, Micheline Johnson, found themselves wandering downtown Lewisburg and standing before an empty storefront with the owner’s telephone number posted for leasing inquiries.

“My wife can be very persuasive,” Craddock says. “She said, ‘Let’s call right now.’ ”

At the time, the couple had decided to move to Lewisburg, but had not finished renovating the house they bought. When Craddock first saw the 1,800 square feet of store space, “I could tell the floor was going to have to be renovated.” The lighting, too. And some painting would have to be done. Nonetheless, he proceeded. Several months and several dollars later, David Craddock had himself a bookstore.

A New Chapter Bookstore is a beautifully elegant place that belies the stereotype of a tiny shop crammed full of books. Immediately upon entrance, one notices the spaciousness that allows for easy wandering around the sleek black shelving. The rear of the store is a fantasy land for kids, full of picture books, chapter books and more.

David Craddock, owner of A New Chapter bookstore

The store offers two dozen labeled sections of new books, including fiction,  poetry, sports, cooking, psychology, sociology, travel, biography, history and gardening. The shop recently expanded space for regional authors. No matter who is staffing the store on any given days, customers can expect a genial greeting and offer of assistance.

The bookstore, which opened in 2018, earned this review last year from Matt Browning, author of Bookstore Explorer: West Virginia: “With a clean, modern design, coffee offerings, and an impressive inventory of new books and book-related gift items, the shop is proving to be right at home amid the town’s eclectic mix of boutiques, galleries and restaurants.”

One of the store’s most intriguing section labels is Blind Date with a Book. Shrouded in brown paper, these books offer a few tantalizing clues, such as this PBS quote for a young adult historical fiction selection: “When death has a story to tell, you listen.”

Blind Date with a Book started as a week-long promotion for Valentine’s Day. It’s still popular, and now there are blue-papered books for children.

“I love it,” says Judith Huber, a retired clinic psychologist and a frequent customer. She picked one brown-wrapped book because the clue was history, and ended up having a blind date with George Washington.

Huber serves as a volunteer peruser of advance reading copies, writing some of the mini-reviews that appear as shelf notes with books. Recently she read and recommended The Engineer’s Wife.

Huber herself has bought a variety of books, ranging from a leather-bound copy of the U.S. Constitution to inexpensive paperbacks to books for her elementary-aged grandchildren. “This is a bookstore for everyone,” she says.

There also are cards, journals and many gift items. Reading glasses for use with electronic screens are particularly popular. So are Brackish bowties made from the feathers of such birds as pheasants and guineas and worn by celebrities ranging from athlete Cam Newton to actor Bill Murray.

Huber bought journals with writing prompts as a going-away gift to her grandchildren after a visit. She also bought one for herself, creating an opportunity to close the long-distance gap by having phone conversations about everyone’s entries.

A New Chapter has become an online and in-person gathering place, with consideration of current health protocols. The bookstore offers these opportunities:

• Readings and book signings.

• Children’s activities the first Saturday of the month.

• A coffee bar offering cappuccino, latte macchiato, espresso, ristretto, sodas and water. There are plans to open a wine bar.

• For those interested in subscribing, electronic notices for upcoming activities and forthcoming books.

• Area book club meetings and New Chapter book club discussions with the owners. Micheline is a practicing attorney, who works remotely from Lewisburg and alternates her time between Greenbrier County and Kingsport.

Huber participates in the New Chapter book club, too. “It’s such a broadening experience,” she says.

Shaye Gadomski is the store’s manager. Last year, she was the only West Virginian to receive a $500 bonus through author James Patterson’s Holiday Bookstore Bonus Program for independent bookstore employees. Customers, colleagues and others nominated 2,541 individuals. Gadomski was one of 500 selected.

  Gadomski now handles the ordering, as well as social media. Without her, Craddock says, he would be working 12- to 14-hour days, which is not how he planned to spend his retirement.

Opening the store took many such long days. Though Craddock had some retail experience and had attended a seminar on how to open a bookstore, and despite approaching the business in a methodical manner, every corner he turned presented a new challenge.

He very reasonably sought professional design assistance, both from the local firm of Suzanne Perilli Designs and from a manufacturer of shelving. Franklin Fixtures in Tennessee was at first taken aback when Craddock called to say he wanted to visit the facility. “People don’t come here,” was the response. “We can send you brochures.” Next thing the manufacturer knew, David was visiting the facility and receiving design help. 

This also was the beginning of what Craddock found to be a nearly universal rule in the world of bookstore suppliers: First, you send them money. A significant chunk went toward fixtures. When the shipment arrived, everything was wrapped in plastic, with no assembly instructions.

He took another reasonable and methodical step, contracting with a national wholesale distributor, which sent him demographic info about the Lewisburg area and generated a suggested purchasing list. But when he got the list, it included such titles as a book about hiking around Houston, Texas. “I spent untold number of hours going through their list,” he says.

Another costly opening expense was a point-of-sale electronic system. The day before the store was to open, he says, “I spent six hours on the telephone,” with representatives of the system and the credit card vendor trying to make the system operational.

Finally, it was opening day. The Internet service, upon which credit card sales depended, went out throughout Lewisburg. If customers did not have cash or checks, Craddock asked them if they were local. Then he says, “Take the book and come back and pay. They all came back and paid.”

Venturing into the bookstore business, Craddock had envisioned something along the lines of author John Grisham’s fictional bookstore owner, wearing a bow tie and reading a book. The reality, Craddock found, is that “it has been way more work and expense than I anticipated.”

But two years after its opening, A New Chapter was generating a 25 percent increase in sales every month, evidence that the store is more than meeting customers’ wants and needs.

There may be even more to come. Craddock mentioned that the full basement beneath the store opens into the Stratton Alley development and could be a good site for a small restaurant.

A New Chapter also may extend more opportunities for local voices. The store already hosts book signings and readings of newly published material, often for local writers. “I think part of having a bookstore is to support local authors,” Craddock says. . He’s also considering hosting a regular open-mic night for poetry and other types of writing and storytelling, no publication credits required. 

“I want to do more to help local people.”