A Bookshop of My Own: The Diary of Opening a Used Bookstore

Opening a used bookstore: Two and a half months in, and Stef's already hunting for a second space. She's rotating inventory strategically, designing a charitable book sale model with nonprofits, correcting the record on her credentials, and taking her first family vacation since opening. I'm wrestling with a question to start out the episode: Is this normal? Do people open a store and then two mon...

Opening a used bookstore: Stef sits down with Marin Independent Journal for a complete interview covering all the questions anyone would want to know the answers to! In this episode, you get a different format: an interview. Fly-on-the-wall POV as Marin IJ asks the questions that have probably been on your mind since Episode 1. How did this actually happen? What were the biggest obstacles? What's...

Opening a used bookstore: Stef faces the hiring question—why it makes her uncomfortable, why waiting will trap her in the business for years, why systems matter now more than ever, and why she's terrified that she IS the success variable. I'm at a threshold. Hiring now versus later isn't just a staffing question—it's a scaling question. If I don't hire soon, I'll get sucked into working in the bus...

Opening a used bookstore: Stef shares her pandemic backstory—everyone has one. Hers led from journaling to gratitude research to a master's program to a quantitative research project that's now calling her back, even as the bookstore takes center stage. Everyone has a pandemic story. Mine starts with journaling—a simple practice that revealed something unexpected: gratitude was making a big differ...

Opening a used bookstore: Stef records in real time, early June 2026. She's learning her Wed-Sunday rhythm, launching provenance bookmarks, starting book buybacks, building community partnerships, and opening a new drop-off location in Sausalito. I cut it close this morning but recorded the pod almost in real time—we're up to date, and I'm sharing what's happening right now... Operations & Pla...

Opening a used bookstore: The Larkspur success proves the power of focused selection. But storage costs are mounting, next-location hunting is urgent, and Stef articulates her complete mission: Every book has a story. Books build community. In hands not landfills. The community wall has been a revelation. "What was your favorite book as a child?"—people can't stop writing. It's become the heartbea...

Opening a used bookstore: One week after opening—community reception is incredible, but regret lingers about not opening an all-ages store. Stef recalibrates: hire help, get her son closing shifts, and maybe... revisit the Chapter 1 store? One week in, and I'm catching my breath. The opening was everything I hoped for—kids love the space, the community has welcomed The Phoenix with open arms. But...

Volume 1 — Before Opening: The anticipation is real. Will kids like it? How will people respond? How will they interact with the engagement pieces I've built into the space—the typewriter, the magnet wall, the reading nooks? I also talk about staying the course with the podcast. The diary style is working, and I want to keep it—but maybe I'll open up to author interviews or even kids' interviews a...

Opening a used bookstore: Two weeks until opening—shelves collapse, live SKU-ing happens (beeps included!), boundaries get set, sparkle events and book swaps unfold, and Stef realizes the power of showing up even when things don't go perfectly. Volume 1 — Two Weeks Out: It's been up and down. My first major setback: a shelf pulled completely off the wall. Half the store—literally half—had to come...

Opening a used bookstore: Late April 2026—Three weeks to go. Stef creates pricing systems, curates shelves with intentionality, pushes the opening to May 13 (no more changes!), plans partnership events, and grapples with volunteer recruitment by reframing contribution as community mattering. (Apologies for car noise in both volumes—I'm recording between tasks!) Volume 1: With three weeks left, I'm...

Opening a used bookstore: April 2026—Books are on shelves. The space feels real. Stef shifts focus to kids and teens, remembers pop-up skills from a dream, builds inventory systems, designs community zones, and her body starts pushing back from all the box-moving. In this episode, it's a catch-up from early April, and shelves are filling. It feels like a big deal—books are actually on shelves, and...

Opening a used bookstore: March 2026—Chapter 3 begins. Stef finds a space. It's not what she imagined, but she's making it work. The Phoenix will open as a kids & teens bookshop—a place to get started. Plus: launching Phoenix En Plein Air, an outdoor book club using remainder stock to stay green. (Note: Audio cuts out halfway through—I come back with a new recording and continue the conversati...

Opening a used bookstore: March 2026—Lease negotiations fall apart. The landlord walks. Stef faces her third rejection. Volume 1 captures the collapse; Volume 2 processes the grief, the exhaustion, and the stubborn belief that she has to let the right opportunity come to her now. (Apologies for road noise in Vol. 1 and caution lights in Vol. 2—I recorded this while processing in real time.) Volume...

In this mini-episode I discover commercial leases can be a whole lot more complicated than I realized. If you haven't contributed a review for the pod would you be so kind and write something about this journey and maybe even if you have always wanted to open a used bookshop of your own? Thank you. 🐦‍🔥 Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own...

Opening a used bookstore: Stef changes how she looks at the business—thinking like a VC-funded startup, expanding search criteria—and finds a space. This episode is about the real pain points a used bookstore solves: consumption, affordability, climate. Plus gratitude for the whole journey, hard stuff included. In this episode, I have a breakthrough. I've been thinking small to big—find a tiny spa...

Opening a used bookstore: One year in—Stef travels to Philadelphia, visits The Last Word bookshop, connects with the owner (25 years in the business!), navigates the emotional rollercoaster of rental space hunting, and realizes word-of-mouth marketing is building momentum. The work is paying off. In this episode, I hit the one-year mark of this journey, and it feels surreal. I travel to Philadelph...

November 2025—A 4-minute mini episode. The landlord decides. The David and Goliath story resolves. And with holiday pressure mounting to get books out into the world, Stef faces a new question: what's the vibe? Light, bright, and airy—or cozy, candlelit, and readerly? Current Book Count: ~11,000+ The reframe is real.  🐦‍🔥 Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A...

Opening a used bookstore: November 2025—Stef meets with the landlord and then gets hit with breaking news: there's another bidder. Cue the David and Goliath showdown. Now all she can do is wait, hope, and trust that community matters more than raking in the dough. In this episode, I finally meet with the potential landlord. I lay it all out—the vision, the plan, the commitment to Mill Valley, the...

Opening a used bookstore: November 2025—Stef breaks down the nuts and bolts of pursuing a commercial space: the Letter of Intent (LOI) with tiered rent, personal guarantees, required paperwork, P&L fundamentals, multiple revenue streams, and why cost of goods matters. Plus: her other business (a free parenting blog) and a sneak peek at the potential space. In this episode, I get into the weeds...

Opening a used bookstore: October 2025—Stef experiments with a tiered rent LOI (Letters of Intent) to align landlords with her mission, battles frustration over the pace of progress, learns an expensive Canadian shipping lesson on The Art of Books platform, and gets an email that validates why she's documenting this journey—because mattering matters. In this episode, recorded in October 2025, I'm...

Opening a used bookstore: September 2025—Stef navigates rental heartbreak, battles online listing systems, rides the wave of trending Little Free Library refreshes, makes a huge children's book haul, and prepares to manage books at the Santa Rosa Reuse Fair. Plus: why she needs little red wagons, and some tea about the store from Chapter 1... In this episode, the rental drama continues. Every week...

Opening a used bookstore: Late August 2025—Stef grapples with online listing technology frustrations, watches more local businesses close, analyzes her P&L (profit and loss statement), and pivots from buying books to sourcing startup supplies. Plus: her first Little Free Library refresh and a Rite Aid liquidation win. In this episode, I'm hitting a wall—and it's technological. I've been strugg...

Opening a used bookstore: Three months later, we are in the summer of 2025 and Stef hits 7,000-8,000 books, watches local bookstores shut down their used departments, doubles down on finding the lowest rent possible (even if it means going small), and explains why online sales are critical—and why she's actually in the book processing business, not just retail. In this episode, it's been three mon...

Opening a used bookstore: Stef hits 4,000+ books but enters the messy middle—slow progress, tedious work, and a feeling of inefficiency. She gets help with graphic design, encounters her first bust of an estate sale, and answers listener questions about the real obstacles to opening a store. In this two-part episode, I'm deep in what I'm calling the messy middle. The book count is climbing but the...

Opening a used bookstore: Stef locks in a crucial book source with rock-bottom 'cost of goods', navigates a home drowning in 3,000+ books, discusses tariff-proofing through reuse, and considers making her bookstore cat-friendly. In this episode, the final piece clicks into place. I've secured an important intake option for books that gives me an extremely low cost of goods—this is the kind of sour...