Village Squire, 1978-09, Page 12Love
and business
•
mix
Running a bookstore is as much an act of love
as economics
Margaret Johnston enjoys introducing people to—good— books
Many people who love reading books have a dream. They
dream someday of owning a small, intimate bookshop where
they will introduce people to the joys of reading. The
difference between Margaret Johnston and most people is that
she has made her dream come true.
It was two years ago come November that Margaret Johnston
opened a small book shop just off the main street of St. Marys
called simply The Book Shop.
Mrs. Johnston and her husband who is a London doctor
bought a farm near Granton several years ago and she had
shopped in St. Marys since they had moved to the farm. During
those years she felt the town could use a good book store.
Then a relative died leaving her with some unexpected
money, enough to start her on the idea of setting up her own
shop. She didn't know whether the shop would make a go of it or
not, she says now. She had to buy the building that houses her
shop and another next door and that's turned out to be
advantageous she says because she is secure in the knowledge
that she won't have to move and the rent from the other store
helps offset some of the costs.
Another advantage, she admits is the fact that she doesn't
have to depend on the shop for a living. She is able to plow all the
money she makes back into buying new stock for the store she
says.
She had another advantage over some people when she
decided to open a book store. she says, because she had a sister
and a brother -iii -law who are in the publishing business. When
she decided to open a shop, she says, the only thing she could
open with any degree of confidence was a book shop. "1 had read
prodigiously all my life." she says, 'and I just like books". She
wouldn't like to sell gifty things and although she likes clothes
she wouldn't want to sell them either. "There's a certain dignity
in books". she says.
The risky business of bookselling has broken many a dream.
"You have to be prepared to have absolutely no income for at
least three years," she states. "I couldn't really have done it
unless my husband was there to support me."
The bookstore never the Tess has been a success in St. Marys.
"Every month, fairly consistently," she reveals "my sales
double what they were a year ago, which is a good healthy sign."
One also has to get used to the peaks and valleys of the book
business. November and December, for instance. are the big
times of the year in bookselling. Mrs. Johnston estimates 40-50
per cent of her entire year's sales are bunched into those
months. "It's a totally different atmosphere at Christmas. You
know one day before Christmas I'd make as much as 1 would in a
VILLAGE SQUIRE/SEPTEMBER 1978. PG. 11.