With just four days to go on her crowdfunding campaign, Nancy Hanger is looking to raise $3,000 more--for a total of $8,000--for her new bookstore, Star Cat Books in Bradford, Vt. Hanger, who bought the store (previously known as Booked Solid) on November 18, plans to put the money from the campaign into rebuilding the store's inventory, updating the point-of-sale system and improving the store's look. And with the new name will come a specialization in science fiction, children's books and young adult books.
"Sci-fi, children's and YA will get massively enhanced," explained Hanger, who was a production manager for Baen Books, the science fiction and fantasy publishing house, for 16 years. She also worked for the now-closed Lauriat's Books in Boston, Mass., for many years. "I know sci-fi, and I know the authors. I can entice them to come up here from New York pretty easily."
Hanger has lived in the area for decades, and had no idea that there was a bookstore in Bradford until shortly before buying it. Tipped off by an acquaintance that there was a store for sale, she visited and found a situation that was grim but fixable. The store's previous owner had kept irregular hours and was in the habit of turning off the lights, even when open, to save money. That, coupled with the front windows so clustered with books that it was difficult to see inside, made it hard for customers to tell if the store was open--or that it even was a bookstore.
Hanger's first order of business has been opening up the front of the store. She removed the piles of books from the windows and got rid of a huge table full of "yard sale stuff" that clogged the entranceway. It's already made a huge difference, she said. Customers have assumed that she's painted the interior or remodeled, when mostly she's uncluttered things and just turned on the lights. She's also in the midst of reworking the inventory, which will remain, at least for now, primarily used books. Further down the road, she'll add more and more new books as her budget allows.
"The stock was okay but manageable," recalled Hanger. The store's previous owner kept no inventory system, and now Hanger has to start from scratch. She plans to use her smartphone to compile an offline inventory in a .csv file, which she'll then export into her Square Register app. The tablet- and smartphone-based POS system will be a large improvement over the unreliable, "antediluvian" cash register she uses at present.
The new name Star Cat recalls the Space Cat children's book series by Ruthven Todd, which Hanger read as a child, and reflects both her interest in sci-fi and the playfulness of children's and YA titles. Artist Timothy Zach, who has done graphic design for Disney, DC Comics, Saturday Night Live and other major brands and companies, is finalizing the store's new logo: an inquisitive cat reaching for a star.
Comicmix, a news site for comic books and all things genre, has "sponsored" Hanger and her indiegogo campaign. The site's editors have broadcast Hanger's efforts on their website and social media accounts, and helped her create merchandise for her campaign donors. Given her background in publishing, Hanger has also been able to secure signed copies of books by Neil Gaiman and Jane Yolen for donors who give at least $500.
Tomorrow night, Hanger will hold an opening celebration. Five authors from local publishing house Bunker Hill Publishing will visit for a night of readings and refreshments. So far, some 50 people have RSVP'd for the event. Although she'll hold this event in store, Hanger plans to host future events, including a weekly stitch-and-bitch and author and poetry readings, in the upstairs of a beautifully remodeled Victorian bank building next door.
"It's so nice," said Hanger, describing the changes she's made to the store and the influx of customers that they've already brought. "It's like a real bookstore now!" --Alex Mutter
