Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 8, 1994 TAG: 9405100007
SECTION: DISCOVER NRV PAGE: 66 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
And there are a lot of different reasons to go the used-book store that occupies the squarish building at 110 Draper Road.
"I like to look at the postcards," said town resident Grace Carrazza. "It's a way to pass the time."
Said Virginia Tech freshman Ian Jardine: "It's close to where I live. I like the store. And I've found it has more of a selection of magazines that other stores nearby."
But whether they stop in because Softcovers is a convenient stationary store or newsstand or candy shop, what the people notice - and what keeps them coming back - are the books.
The shelves are lined with thousands of paperback books on literally every subject. Cards on the wall direct bibliophiles to the various topics - Classics, Science Fiction, Westerns, Mystery, Romance, Philosophy, Sports, Kids Books.
Prominent authors ranging from Danielle Steele to Tom Clancy, from Robert Ludlum to Agatha Christie, have their own sections of the store.
"I always come in here," said Eric Beane of Blacksburg, whose literary interests include westerns and science fiction. "I always like to get something at Softcovers for my dad or myself."
Of course, because the books have been read before, customers receive a price break. Instead of paying the full amount stamped on a book, at Softcovers books cost just half of their marked price plus 10 cents.
"It's cheap books," said manager Susan King when asked to explain the store's popularity. "New paperbacks are $6 and $7. It's incredible."
The prices are made even cheaper for those readers who trade in books they aren't reading. The store issues credit equal to 25 percent of the original price of the book.
"Basically, I don't like paying full price for a book I'm only going to read once," said Kate Spinelli, a junior at Virginia Tech majoring in psychology and biology. She reads romance and science fiction when she's not studying. "After I've read the book, if I like it I'll keep it. But the ones I don't, I'll bring back [for credit]."
The store's combination of bargains and selection resulted in its selection as their most popular used-book store by readers of the New River Current.
It beat out such diverse competition as Blue Ridge Books in Wytheville, the Lions Club Flea Market in Pulaski, the YMCA Thrift Store in Blacksburg, the Radford Library, the Tech Bookstore in Blacksburg, Felix Books & Gifts adjacent to Radford University, Waldenbooks, and Books, Strings & Things.
Softcovers is open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday. It's busiest during the lunch hour, on Saturdays, and at the beginning of each semester at Tech, as English students try to find bargains on their assigned readings.
by CNB