New Projects for Displaying and Shelving More Books

Among the assets I bought when I purchased the store that became Boswell were three pressboard bookcases. Plain white all, they looked cheap and easily got dirty. Jocelyn spray-painted one green last year, and this became our thriller case.

After much discussion (and lots of time where we did nothing), Jocelyn convinced me that traditional brush painting would be more successful.. We're painting these cases bright yellow, and they will replace the wood cases in our kids room. The wood cases, in turn, will become adult cases.

A.J. Heinen, Schwartz's old contractor, has been fixing a number of our cases that are, well, collapsing. We need more sign headers as well, and at least one counter needed to be reinforced. Many of the fixtures in the store date to the Iron Block store, which was built in 1984. I suspect that some of those cases came from Fifth Street. To put it bluntly, they are old.

We told Joe that we needed a few more display tables, and he was able provide us with a couple, which you'll now see displaying teen books and some of our office products (the office table became the Christmas gift card table--When I last blogged about this, we were missing three orders. Coincidentally, one was shipping the day I inquired about it.)

I still wanted a few more tables, and I have been trying every avenue, from looking at fixture catalogs to home catalogs, to shopping various stores (both new and used) around town. I needed the table to be big enough to hold at least 2-3 titles, I didn't want a cabinet (it needs to be light enough to easily more around the store), and I wanted it high, at least 36 inches tall.

Our solution came when I ordered from a vendor I use for bookends and ornaments (and whatever catches our eye). They had a special clearance and we used it to stock up on various items. When I looked at my totals, I realized I was close enough that I could get to the "truck delivery" level, where I could actually include furniture. I found two tables that fit our needs, as well as an umbrella stand (for things like maps, giftwrap, hobby horses) and a floor lamp.

I have so far put together one of the tables. We're displaying the MacArthur Genius winners who have books. This reminded me to order in a couple of David Simon titles.

After thinking it over, I bought four floor lamps. We're selling them for Christmas. Details to follow.