Group of local leaders is helping the business find new location in town
Published in the February 3-16, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Lauren Newcomb
The Explorers group meets at BookSmart where they interact with their toddlers 2 to 4 years of age.
Photo by Marty Cheek
For the past 20 years, BookSmart has been an essential part of the Morgan Hill community. Located centrally in a downtown space, BookSmart has served as a well-loved book and toy store, café, and community resource center where individuals and families come to shop, learn and socialize in a positive and educational atmosphere.
“BookSmart has become the third place for people to gather, after work and home,” co-owner Brad Jones said. Although the store fills many retail needs such as books and educational toys, magazines, greeting cards, coffee, and ice cream, Jones and co-owner Cinda Meister emphasize the most rewarding aspect of owning BookSmart is its role as this third place for community members to gather.
Unfortunately, BookSmart is facing a multitude of challenges, not the least of which are its imminent displacement and uncertain relocation plans. Jones and Meister, a husband and wife team, explain that the city’s ongoing downtown redevelopment plans have already affected BookSmart financially, making their displacement even more difficult to handle. Most of the other tenants in the shopping center have already been displaced, which lessens the store’s revenue even further due to fewer customers.
A customer shops at BookSmart, which is looking for a new location after a developer purchased the property. Photo by Marty Cheek
To help navigate this trying time for BookSmart, Jones and Meister have put together a group they call the “Tiger Team,” comprised of community members with varying areas of expertise who care about the future of BookSmart. This team’s efforts are focused on keeping the store viable, as well as in the downtown vicinity.
However, as downtown spaces are limited and expensive, the team hopes to at least keep BookSmart as a part of the community. “It’s incredibly heartwarming to have such a wonderful team who really cares about us, about BookSmart,” Meister said with feeling.
Members of the Tiger Team include a real-estate broker, health consultant, NASA employee, lawyer, and accounting professional, among others, who together provide a wealth of knowledge from various areas of expertise to help with the coming transition.
As a book lover, Tiger Team member Emily Shem-Tov appreciates living in a community that can support independent bookstores and great libraries. She wants to raise her kids to be readers, get exposed to authors and book clubs, and all the other literary and cultural benefits.
“BookSmart is so much more than a bookstore. It’s a vital part of the fabric of our community,” she said. “Every time we stop in for ice cream or a birthday present, we run into people we know and get a chance to catch up and build ties.”
Cindy Gilchrist grinds beans for a hot cup of coffee at the store’s cafe counter.
Photo by Marty Cheek
BookSmart has given back to nearly every organization in town — from countless donations, to hosting events, to selling tickets to local performances, she said.
“I volunteered to help on the Tiger Team because I want to live in the type of community that has places like BookSmart and I know that sometimes it takes the community coming together and showing their support to keep them thriving,” she said.
BookSmart is undergoing changes not just in relocation, but also in the organization of the business. The team is helping BookSmart to adopt a hybrid business model, similar to that of Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park and Borderlands Books, which will make BookSmart into more than a store that sells books.
Already, the store has become something of a community center and an anchor in the downtown area. But they hope this new business model will help cement BookSmart in this role and enable it to endure.
The biggest problem BookSmart is currently facing is finding a space that works for the type of business Jones and Meister want to run.
Downtown spaces are hard to come by, so they hope to at least find one close by. A space that would definitely not work for the store is within big retail-oriented shopping centers. That sort of atmosphere is not conducive to the learning environment and sense of community that BookSmart fosters.
Downtown Morgan Hill is full of a number of great restaurants, but with the displacement of various boutiques, The Music Tree, and now BookSmart, the downtown area will not have many businesses besides these restaurants. This lack of variety will do nothing to aid in the revitalization of downtown Morgan Hill, which is, the purpose of the project.
Before BookSmart leaves its current home, Jones and Meister are hosting an event to take a BookSmart Community Photo to commemorate their time at this location and create a lasting memory of the store. This photograph will be displayed at BookSmart’s new location to remind them of the years spent there as well as the people they have served there. Jones and Meister will welcome any suggestions for what people would like to see in their new store. The photo-taking event will take place on February 13 at 1 p.m.
BookSmart will also be hosting a number of special community nights in February and March in which community members are invited to shop and socialize.
By selling off as much inventory as possible, the community can help keep BookSmart’s moving costs down and ease the transition to a new location. Whether people are a part of the Tiger Team or simply community members doing something to help out, Jones and Meister are grateful for the support. Meister said, “It feels better to know we’re not in this alone.”
