Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Goodrich.
Elizabeth, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and we lived next door to a woman who owned a wonderful children’s bookstore. I can remember even then thinking that she had the coolest life, getting to spend her days surrounded by books. Of course, I came by this naturally. My mother ran the law library at the University of Memphis, and my father worked for the daily newspaper. So books, ideas, and creative people were very much a part of our lives growing up. Years later, after working as a Presbyterian minister, I felt the nudge to pursue this idea of a bookstore again. Having worked for a long time to build faith communities, I was interested in a community built around books and a shared love of stories.
Once I began seriously exploring this, a mutual friend introduced me to the fabulous women who became my business partners, Laura Lilly Cotten and Kristen Iskandrian. Laura had worked in retail and specifically for bookstores in Georgia and Michigan, and Kristen is a writer who has had the experience of touring with a (really incredible!) first novel. For similar reasons, we all love independent bookstores, and we wanted to offer something in Birmingham that would be a space like some of the wonderful bookstores we love in other cities. Kristen and Laura had been working on preparations to open a store, and we felt some synergy and excitement about working together from the very start. The hardest part was identifying a location, but we knew we wanted to be within the city limits of Birmingham, in a welcoming space that would draw people together, and we knew we had found it when our current location became available. We opened officially on December 14, 2019.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Until a few weeks ago, we would have all three said this has been a smooth road with only happy surprises. We had a dreamy opening, and the support of the community and the friends we have already made have just been incredible. But COVID-19 has forced us to become an entirely different sort of business, shifting in almost a matter of hours from the bricks and mortar store designed to draw people in, to an online business hoping to preserve the sense of engagement and excitement that people feel when they are in the physical presence of books and other people who also love books.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Thank You Books – what should we know?
We are a general interest independent bookstore. We try to have a wide variety of books that will meet varied interests. That said, we have a focus on literary fiction. We are also particularly proud of our poetry section and the number of offerings we have from smaller presses. Our space is not large, so every decision we make to put something on our self is well considered. And our children’s section is magical.
We’ve also taken steps to make sure our space is as welcoming as possible. We wanted to be in a place where it is easy to park, easy to push in a stroller or a wheelchair. We have a changing table and baby wipes in the restroom. We want there to be absolutely nothing intimidating about our store, nothing pretentious. We love books, but we also love people.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Chip Brantley, of Pulitzer Prize-winning White Lies fame, gets credit for the business partner matchmaking. And we would not be where we are without great support from other booksellers. Seriously, people in the book business are some of the finest around. Laura and Kristen did bookstore boot camp at Parnassus in Nashville, and the folks at Avid in Athens, Georgia and lots of others have been wonderful with advice and helping us get oriented. We’re also really lucky to have wildly encouraging families, both immediate and extended. Our husbands, children, siblings, parents, and friends have logged some serious bookstore hours!
Contact Info:
- Address: Thank You Books
5502B Crestwood Boulevard
Birmingham, AL 35212 - Website: Www.Thankyoubookshop.com
- Phone: 205-202-2031
- Email: hello@thankyoubookshop.com
- Instagram: @thankyou_bham
- Facebook: Thank You Books
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