THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130328
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: 55 lines
In the sprawling, bustling Goodwill Super Thrift Store in Norfolk you'll find tons of clothing, truckloads of odds and ends, and, opening tomorrow at 9 a.m., a book boutique.
A boutique? For books? GO ON!
Yep, the book-lined boutique is an oasis of order amid churning activity within the vast building at the intersection of Tidewater Drive and Virginia Beach Boulevard.
Until now, to find a book one picked one's way amid the As Is Shop, a glorified flea market in the warehouse's corner where books, unloaded daily, were stacked helter skelter on tables, chairs, and the very floor, God wot!
``Books are treasures,'' Katherine Overkamp declared. ``They deserve our respect!''
``Don't glare at me!'' I shot back. ``When I left an open book face-down, my great aunt snapped, `Guy Boy, you uncouth, kinless scamp, how would you like to lie flat-faced with your spine crooked apart?' ''
Kathy, communications director, said that the tidy quarters for books was marketing director Lori Shelton's idea.
Project Manager Bonnie Morenus of Suffolk, expert organizer of book sales, came via Volunteer Hampton Roads.
Assisting are her daughter Heather, daughter-in-law Stacey, and Patricia Kusner. The store brims with bright young women.
Morenus disclosed Thursday that, perusing the shelves, you can almost tell what's on people's minds these days.
There's steady supply and demand for self-help books, ranging in topics from substance abuse to psychological problems. Many religious books come and go in the mainstream.
``It's the pulse of the community where people are looking for answers,'' she said.
Morenus plans to set aside car repair manuals. A resident hereabouts three years, she has found that people in Hampton Roads tend to keep cars longer than they do in her native upstate New York.
She aims to keep the stock upscale with newer titles but will include older ones for readers looking for the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. I spied a novel by Horatio Alger Jr. His heroes put their faith in hard work - and a stroke of luck. Often they marry the boss's daughter.
In childhood, Morenus loved Jack London's accounts of animals hard-pressed, the likes of ``The Call of the Wild.'' Youngsters today seldom look into London. They seek what they regard as more sophisticated fare on the gory side.
The As Is Shop will continue for those who'd rather rummage on their own. See you there! MEMO: Super Thrift hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday
and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Sales by the United Way agency help disabled
people get jobs.