Happy Bookseller coming to final chapter: Columbia readers to lose longtime independent bookstore

Sep 05, 2008 (The State - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- BKS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Sep. 5--Columbia will turn a page in its retail history when Happy Bookseller, the city's most well-known independent bookstore, closes in October.

Owners Andy and Carrie Graves mailed letters Thursday to loyal customers to announce their decision. With Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble within a mile and increasing competition from online booksellers, the couple could not earn a living that would support them and their two sons, Andy Graves said.

"We're very sad this is all going to end," he said. "The reality is we don't have a choice."

Happy Bookseller was founded in 1974 by Rhett Jackson, a local figure in the Methodist Church and civil rights movement. The store moved from Richland Mall to its location on Forest Drive in 1988. Jackson, now 83, sold the store to Andy Graves, a longtime employee, in 1996.

Over the years, Happy Bookseller has been a haven for book lovers, and its owners nurtured the city's book culture by having a well-read staff and by hosting readings and autograph sessions and catering to book clubs. Names such as Pat Conroy, Rosa Parks and Paula Deen passed through its doors.

News of its closing hit employees, authors and customers as if they had suffered a death in the family.

"Oh, it just crushes me," said local author Mary Lee, as tears welled. "I'm really going to miss it."

Lee, who was signing copies of her book, "My Air Force Mom," on Thursday, became a loyal customer after she and her husband moved to Columbia in 1996. She had written her book but could not generate interest from publishers. Lee finally found a publisher after meeting another author who was signing books at Happy Bookseller.

"Had they not had that book signing, I probably still would not be published today," Lee said.

Lynn Barron, the librarian at Hammond School, said the store worked with the school every year to hold a book fair for students' summer reading lists. A portion of proceeds would be donated to the school.

"I feel very passionate about the bookstore," Barron said. "It's going to be a real loss to the community."

Don Greiner, a USC professor of contemporary American literature, said he discussed William Faulkner with one of the store's employees just this week.

"Every person who works there knows books and has read the books," Greiner said. "They're not just credit-card swipers."

He is disappointed the city cannot support an independent bookstore like Happy Bookseller.

"The closing of the Happy Bookseller is a disaster for the cultural scene in Columbia," he said.

The Happy Bookseller was born from a passion for books.

Jackson had dreamed of opening a bookstore with his twin brother. When his brother was named president of Lander College, Jackson and his wife, Betty, forged ahead with the bookstore.

"I babied that and loved it and nurtured it," Jackson said. "I really hate to see it go."

The Jacksons believed in the independent bookstore's mission to support new authors and to help readers find books that fit their tastes.

Betty Jackson recalled meeting John Grisham when he was peddling his first novel, "A Time to Kill," out of the trunk of his car.

"With independents, it's loving your books and personally selling them to people who come in," she said.

Betty Jackson, still works at the store three days a week.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with my Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays," she said.

Happy Bookseller was a love affair for the Graves in more ways than one. Both were avid readers who found jobs in a place they loved. Then, they met while working there.

Carrie Graves, 32, decided she wanted to work at the bookstore when she was 8 years old and saw her baby sitter behind the counter of the old Richland Mall location.

"That was the first time it struck me that I'd be working some day and I got in my mind that it would be here," she said.

She got hired in 1995.

Andy Graves, 38, worked at the bookstore when he came to Columbia for graduate school in 1992. After graduating, he took a state government job but was unhappy. The Jacksons rehired him at the store.

The Graves spent months wrangling over their decision to close. The couple tried to find interested buyers but prospects fell through, Andy Graves said.

Sales peaked in 1993, Andy Graves said. They have been steadily declining but the last four to five years have been particularly hard, he said. The couple no longer can get by on slim profit margins with two children, Carrie Graves said.

"We're not able to afford it anymore," Andy Graves said.

The Graves said they do not have plans for their lives after the bookstore closes. But they will search for jobs in Columbia that provide steady salaries and benefits.

The couple said they will miss talking books with their customers and serving as an institution in the city. They are planning a customer appreciation event for Sept. 18 and will be selling discounted books, Andy Graves said.

"Even when it wasn't financially rewarding, it was rewarding personally," he said.

"We'll be forever grateful for that."

Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307.

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