"What's in a name"? mused the heroine in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. For a bookseller opening up shop, it's an important part of defining the business--and sometimes proves to be a challenge. "I was pulling my hair out," said Wyn Morris about naming his Lexington, Ky., bookstore, which will open in April. He finally settled on what might seem an obvious choice--Morris Book Shop--but there's more to this moniker than meets the eye.
A store with the same name operated in Lexington from 1935 until 1978. Morris came across a photograph of the original Morris Book Shop while perusing the historical tome Women in Lexington. Although the namesake owner was no relation, it turns out there was a serendipitous connection. The store's last proprietor was Joseph Houlihan, a relative of Morris' former colleague and newly-hired store manager, Hap Houlihan. This bit of kismet, as well as the historical connection, appealed to Morris, a lifelong Lexington resident. "In a town this size," he noted, "we have a portion of the population who remember the store well."
Morris' introduction to bookselling came after he graduated from the University of Kentucky and began working at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, where his responsibilities included everything from buying and inventory control to marketing and handselling. What began as a temporary stint turned into "a decade-long crash course in every element of bookselling," said Morris. After leaving Joseph-Beth, he spent six years as sales manager at the University Press of Kentucky. But while working on the other side of the business, he never lost his affinity for bookselling. "I've always felt that I had a real knack for it," Morris said. "There were years at Joseph-Beth where I was as happy as I'd ever been in a job. I really developed this passion for it."
Owning a bookstore might well have remained "just something I talked about after having a few beers," Morris said, if not for a pivotal event. In 2006, he lost his father and stepmother, who were aboard a Comair flight that crashed on takeoff at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport. "It's the kind of thing that sets your head spinning in a lot of different ways," Morris said. "One of the ways it affected me is realizing that anything can happen at any time, and enough talking about what I'd like to do someday and let's do it." To solidify his decision, Morris took part in Paz & Associates' workshop "Opening a Bookstore: The Business Essentials" last March and found it "energizing and convincing."
In January, Morris attended the ABA's Winter Institute in Louisville, where one of the themes was buy local, something that "really hit home," he said. After experiencing an outpouring of support following the Comair crash, "I decided I need to be a more viable member of this community, and the bookstore is not just my passion it's a good place to do that from."
The 1,700-sq.-ft. general interest bookstore is located in a shopping center with a food co-op, a restaurant, a comic shop with which Morris is planning to work, and other businesses, along with a weekly farmers' market in the spring and summer. Although the store's shelves have yet to be stocked, it's certain that "we will concentrate on Kentucky titles," said Morris. This includes both works about the state and the Lexington area as well as books by authors who reside in Kentucky like Wendell Berry, Eric Reese and Gwyn Hyman Rubio. The store will also carry a selection of mysteries and thrillers (a genre for which Morris has a particular fondness), among them books by Kentucky natives Sue Grafton and Lynn Hightower and those by scribes farther afield such as Irish crime writer Ken Bruen.
Sidelines will be part of the mix, mainly bookmarks, book lights, lap desks, journals and other writing- and book-themed items, with the occasional exception. "My four-year-old will be upset if I don't have Ugly Dolls," Morris said. "And this is Kentucky, so if someone decides they want country hams, I'll put those in the front window."
Whether they're seeking a page-turner or a country ham, aiding shoppers is something Morris is looking forward to doing once again. "I'm one of the few people I know who left retail and missed the customers," he remarked. In two months, he'll be welcoming those customers at the new Morris Book Shop, followed by a grand opening celebration in early May. "We're building a store, and we'll see where it takes us," said Morris. "It's an adventure."--Shannon McKenna Schmidt
Morris may be reached at morrisbookshop@gmail.com or 859-276-0494.