Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanya Mills
Hi Tanya, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Seven years ago in January of 2018, when our local Barnes & Noble refused yet again to offer my high-functioning autistic son a part-time job on his third try, I decided it was time to do something about it myself. I determined to help grow both his career prospects and the scant literary scene in the fastest-growing metro area in the country. As a writer, myself, with two published books to my name, I set my keyboard aside temporarily and jumped feet first into the bookselling business.
I knew next to nothing about the bookselling business, but a mother’s love can make up for a lot, and fortune kept smiling on our venture. We were able to open smack in the middle of downtown St. George in a prime location several months later (and only a couple of months after I finished a week-long Booksellers Boot Camp, sponsored by the American Booksellers Association). We had a successful grand opening, but business grew very slowly…until Covid hit in 2020.
While other small businesses were hit hard, we not only survived, but our online business through our website began to pick up pace as we offered direct to home shipping and curbside pickup…even home delivery for a time. And then in the summer of 2021, when another small business that shared the back of the historic home where we were located had to move out to a larger space, we took the plunge and occupied the entire house. With it, we opened a whole new speculative section that has proven immensely popular, particularly with the youth.
Now, we have as many customers coming in through our back door as our front door and our clientele continues to grow each year as more and more people discover us on their way through Utah on their way to Zion National Park or Las Vegas and beyond.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Because I’d had little bookselling or retail experience before, I definitely made some rookie mistakes.
In trying to get things up and running pretty quickly, I didn’t take the time to fully understand the processes and full benefits of our point of sale system and was still rounding the learning curve on that 2-3 years into my ownership.
The biggest mistake I made was deciding to rely mostly on a distributor for our inventory (first Baker and Taylor and then, after they moved out of the independent bookstore stream, we switched to Ingram) rather than taking on accounts directly with publishers. Those few I did take on were entered into on a non-returnable basis because that way I could get the books at a higher discount. But those 4-6% percentage points in difference could never make up for the loss of being able to return unsold stock at face value within a year. We ended up with a lot of unsold stock, which we had to either put on sale or give away. And Ingram’s return policy was stingy at best.
And while we grew during the pandemic and its aftermath, it was a bit of a struggle financially mainly because our rent and CAM fees went up. Fortunately, through the federal government, we were able to get a small grant and our local Chamber of Commerce also made arrangements with generous local banks and businesses to award a local grant that we didn’t have to pay back in the end.
And even now, as we are into our seventh year, we still haven’t cleared a profit, so we’re still trying to find a way to become more sustainable as a business. We’re getting close, but our lease extensions are up in a couple of years and, with the way the city is growing, we’re certain we won’t be able to afford the rent at that point.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
While I am now a bookstore owner and manager, at heart I am still a creative, hewing to the creative side of management. I can more easily envision things and then produce what I’ve envisioned than I can manage business processes. As a writer (and I’ve taken it up again now that we have a few more employees), I always envision stories and then bring them forth on the page, whether it’s suspense, women’s fiction, or the Young Adult fantasy series I’m now working on.
I do the same with events at our bookstore. We’ve become known in the community for our annual Harry Potter Book Day, which has become a half-day affair that ranges beyond our store walls to the courtyard area of Green Gate Village of which we’re a part. And in the past, I have been able to work with other store owners in the village to turn much of the village into such Harry Potter locales as Hogsmead or Hogwarts or Diagon Alley, so that Harry Potter fans of all ages can come and enter into that world and enjoy the activities and games and some of the food and drink.
Due to my background having grown up abroad in such countries as Greece, Turkey, Iraq, and Lebanon (as well as having traveled and lived in England and Italy and other parts of Europe), I determined at the outset of my business venture to have a special International Literature section in our store. Also, as a woman-owned business, I set aside an entire shelf space for books about women and biographies and memoirs by and about Influential Women. In addition, we offer four different book clubs that meet virtually (again, thanks to Covid): Influential Women, Mystery/Thriller, International Literature, and Classic Reads. And we help support two local LGBTQ+ oriented book clubs, supplying their monthly selections.
Probably one of the things that makes me most proud was the decision to have a very talented local artist paint murals on the walls of our Children’s Room and our Speculative Room (where we turned my old computer closet into Harry Potter’s Cupboard Under the Stairs). Those murals and that closet have a definite “Wow” factor when customers enter, passing through an old-style beaded curtain painted to look like bookshelves.
There is also a definite cozy, warm, inviting feeling to our store that is remarked upon by most who enter. Being in an old, historic home (1917) built in the early Frank Lloyd Wright prairie school style, the flow of the space encourages visitors to wander from room to room, and we’ve made a point about having seating in every room to encourage customers to pull out a book and sit down to read. So, I’m very happy and proud about that, too
What are your plans for the future?
A lot will depend on whether we can come up with a sustainable plan for the store, whether we begin a membership program, take on partners, or try the non-profit route. If we can’t become more sustainable in the next two years, we’ll have to look at selling the business, I’m afraid. But if things work out, allowing us to expand, and if one or more of the other small historic homes in Green Gate Village becomes available to either rent or buy, I can envision turning it into a dedicated Children’s Space (Babies through Sixth Grade) and then using our current Children’s Room in other ways.
Pricing:
- Almost all our events are free.
- Books and merchandise are all new and priced as listed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thebookbungalow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tanyasbookbungalow/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookbungalow/
- Twitter: https://x.com/book_bungalow
