Banner Way: Book Merchant Signals Fear of Writing Finis to Village Dream

For Deena While, opening three years ago was a dream come true.

It’s a small, independent bookstore for children filled with thousands of titles and every ounce of character and charm she’s been able to pour into it—from the mural of old, downtown La Mesa on the wall and the cozy reading chairs to the toy train that runs on tracks above the shelves.

These days, however, it’s the orange and white banner hanging over the outside display window facing La Mesa Boulevard that carries the store’s most heartfelt tale:

SOS: Save Our Shop
3 books a day will save us
support local small business

Like millions of other Americans, While has felt the pinch of a shrinking economy and is struggling to make things work.

As a longtime lover of books—and a mom who saw how excited kids could get at school book fairs—While aspired to open her own little shop in La Mesa where she grew up and still lives.

Despite the rocky economic outlook and the dire warnings of some, she and her husband decided to proceed, and opened Readers Inc. three years ago with the recession already under way.

The shop remains open, but at a price.

She calls it “a tough gig.”

“The store’s never really paid for itself,” says While, 49, who previously worked as an accountant, librarian for the Christian Science Reading Room up the street and as secretary for the La Mesa Village Merchants Association.

“We always kick in money every month, so for 38 months now this has been a hole, a pit that we’ve been putting money into. When my lease came up in November, my husband was saying, ‘We’ve got kids who are going to be hitting college’—we have one daughter in college and we’ve got two boys coming up—‘we can’t keep supporting the store.’

“So that’s why I have my banner out front. Just because I know from my experience, cute little stores that I loved to shop at, and I’d come and they’d be closed and I’d be like, ‘Why didn’t I know? I wish I would have known. Maybe I could have helped.’

“So that’s why I thought rather than just letting this be empty that I would let the community know, ‘If you like this store, help me out.’ I’m not here to make money, but I’m here to break even.’ ”

She knows the store will remain open through March. After that, she doesn’t know.

She was supposed to renew her three-year lease at the end of November, but couldn’t make a commitment that long. So the property owner is working with her, taking it month by month through the holidays, and she’ll reassess after Jan. 1.

She’s hoping for the best, but doesn’t know how the story will end.

The banner went up in time for Christmas in the Village, and response was swift.

“The first day, oh my gosh, I had so many people come in and buy three books,” she says. “It was really cute. They love the store, they don’t want to see it go. … That’s what I wanted, what I thought was neat.”

But she knows forces are aligned against her little shop. People don’t have as much money to spend on books. Discount stores and the Internet can undercut her prices. And in some families, reading just isn’t a priority.

Fortunately, her husband has a good job with an engineering company, and she says they both are “very conservative” with their money.

They don’t spend on luxuries or new toys; they save everything they can and the only things they splurge on—when they decide to splurge—are their three children.

That strategy has allowed them to have a solid platform during rough times.

But While looks down the street, sees several empty spaces where businesses have closed and knows what can happen. She sees school budgets being cut, and people being laid off and knows it all has ripple effects.

With a bookshop, there’s very little wiggle room. Book prices are set, and cutting overhead is almost impossible. While is the store’s only regular employee, though her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend pitch in.

“I think we’re going to survive,” While says. “But I have to be realistic.”