Just a little food for thought …

One of the nation’s best children’s bookstores closed its doors in November, much to the chagrin of families in the Old Town Alexandria area surrounding Washington, DC.

In 2006, A Likely Story, the beloved Old Town children’s bookstore, won the industry’s prestigious Pannell Award and was voted the most outstanding children’s bookstore in the nation. For two decades, the bookstore, and especially its children’s story time, were fixtures in the lives of many families.

The shop hosted midnight Harry Potter parties, which thousands attended. Its owners were prime forces behind such community events as this year’s Tricks and Treats on Halloween. They donated to school fundraisers, hosted birthday parties, organized writers’ workshops for children and held summer camps.

On Nov. 21, A Likely Story hosted a deeply discounted “thank you” sale and closed its doors forever.

They were apparently a big part of the community, but went out of business nonetheless. By the way, Hicklebee’s won the Pannell award in 2004.

Additional perspective comes from the Galleycat blog at Media Bistro:

… from co-owner Dinah Paul: “People loved us, but they didn’t equate loving us to buying from us… When we finally looked at all the bills coming in and saw how it would never match the cash flow, that’s when we decided to sell.” …

But even if she and her husband had figured out and consistently applied the best practices for their business, a successful community bookstore ultimately depends on the community not taking the social and cultural opportunities a good bookstore can provide for granted.

Don’t worry; there are no indications that same thing might happen to WG’s beloved Hicklebee’s on Lincoln Avenue. But WGx thought you’d want to know anyway …