ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 22, 1996 TAG: 9603220048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
A new bookstore will open up in the space vacated last week by Books Strings & Things, possibly as early as late next month.
Blacksburg resident Peggy Smith finalized the deal Tuesday to purchase BS&T's assets and take over the lease of its 2,800-square-foot space on Draper Road. She is planning a sale sometime next week on BS&T's remaining stock so the building can be cleared for remodeling.
The wooden shelves will remain, but Smith said the store will have better lighting, more color and a new name - The Booksmith. She also is working with a consultant on the store's new inventory, which will include an increased book and compact disc selection.
"We'd like to keep it close to what it was but also broaden its appeal a little bit," she said.
BS&T, which had become an institution during its 31 years in town, closed its Blacksburg store March 14 in a continuing battle to become financially solvent after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 1993. The Roanoke store will remain open.
Smith, who moved to Blacksburg from Ohio six years ago, had been an avid BS&T customer. When she and her family first moved to town, Smith said, she always dragged relatives to the bookstore.
Like many customers, however, Smith became disappointed in the store during the last few years as the stock began to dwindle. During a morning walk in downtown Blacksburg with Renee Gillie, owner of Gillie's and Bollo's, Smith learned BS&T was up for sale.
"We said, 'what a shame if that closes, that's going to be the end of downtown,'" Smith said.
By the time Smith returned home from work, she had decided to open her own bookstore. Though she ran a chamber of commerce in Ohio before moving to Blacksburg, The Booksmith is Smith's first small business venture.
In addition to increasing the store's stock, Smith has other plans for her new store. She and Renee Gillie are talking about opening access between Bollo's and the bookstore. They now are determining whether the plan is structurally feasible, Smith said.
Though the bookstore is not yet open, Smith already has garnered community reaction. When she went to the post office, the postmaster shook her hand when he heard about her plans. While setting up phone service, the customer representative in Richmond told Smith she once lived in Radford and was a BS&T customer.
"It makes you feel great," Smith said. "I've not only purchased a business, I've helped the community. You don't get that kind of satisfaction often."
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB