In 1996, Ann Nye and Ellie Temple had been working together at Frog Island Books in Excelsior for eight years. When the owner retired and closed up shop that year, Nye wanted to keep a bookstore alive in Excelsior. “Ann turned to me and said, ‘Ellie, we could do this,’” Temple says. “I said, ‘I don’t think so. This isn’t the right time.’ So I agreed to do it for five years, and that was 21 years ago,” she says.
“We loved the book business and knew Excelsior needed a bookstore, so we decided to reopen. Excelsior is a great little town, and we knew we could make a go of it,” Nye says. Their shop, Excelsior Bay Books, is just down the block from the old store. The same three part-time employees have stayed with them since they opened. “They feel it’s their store, too,” Nye says, and they round out the staff of the all-women bookstore.
Temple was a children’s librarian before she stayed home for almost 20 years as her daughters grew up. When she decided to go back to work, she found school libraries had changed in her absence. Now they were media centers, and a librarian’s job was “no longer about finding the right book for the right child,” Temple says. “So I thought I’d just work at a little bookstore.”
Before working at Frog Island, Nye worked part time at various businesses as a young mom and had an accounting background. When Frog Island closed, both women were happy working with books and wanted to stay in the area, so they made a go of it.
The late ’90s weren’t easy years for independent bookstores, though. (Remember Meg Ryan in the 1998 movie You’ve Got Mail?) The big chains were ruthless, and indie stores were closing everywhere. “We had to home in on what an independent bookstore really meant,” Temple says. “We didn’t try to match prices—we had to give service and knowledge, so that’s what we’ve tried to do for 21 years, and it’s paid off in that we have really loyal customers … and children who we’ve watched grow up now have their own children they’re bringing in.”
The challenges weren’t over, of course. Amazon came along, and online sales still pose a threat to independent sellers. “Then Kindles and e-readers came out; that was really scary a few years ago,” Nye says. “We thought, ‘Oh boy, this is it. This might be the end of us.’ But we weathered that storm as well because they were a novelty, and now the pendulum has swung back our way.” People still use e-readers when they travel, but Nye says they’re seeing people come back to print books and sales are improving again. “Everybody’s tightened their belts a little bit and had to become more efficient and maybe better at what we do,” Nye says.
The big chains didn’t disappear, of course, but now the small independent stores are novel destinations. Focusing on what makes them unique has helped Excelsior Bay Books stay open in the face of challenges over the years. “Fads and bestsellers come and go, but we’ve always stuck to the quality fiction, nonfiction and children’s books and haven’t jumped on the bandwagon [selling books] that some of the discount chains would sell. We can’t discount like Walmart or Costco can, so we have to concentrate on really good books and really good customer service,” Nye says. “I think people are realizing you really need to support your local town if you want it to stay alive. We can give recommendations of books we’ve actually read, and we like to match the right book to the right person.”
The small store has its own special ambiance, too. “It’s kind of cozy, and it’s kind of funky, messy and welcoming,” Nye says. The store also supports its local community, bringing in authors to do events at schools and running its regular Literature Lovers events. These events began two years ago, bringing authors to a ticketed evening event to talk, with wine, soda or coffee and hors d’oeuvres before the discussion. They started holding them in the store, but it was so successful they had to move to Trinity Church. Crowds have reached 300 people for popular authors.
“Everyone we have employed here has a good reading background. We’re all ‘people people,’ and Ann and I talk books all day,” Temple says. The store has a reading area with a couch, four chairs and a coffee table. Kids come in and hang out, as it’s become a sort of unofficial meeting spot for them to get picked up by parents after a movie, and people come in during the day to read. “We’ll bring them a bunch of books, or they pick their own,” Temple says.
Expert Picks
Looking for the perfect book to curl up with as the snow falls outside? Here are three recommendations from Ann Nye and Ellie Temple.
How to Find Love in a Bookshop By Veronica Henry
This new adult fiction is a sweet romance. “Henry’s quirky cast of characters with their intertwined tales of loss, love and community make this a must-read,” Nye says.
A Christmas for Bear By Bonny Becker
“We love [this] series because the author doesn’t talk down to children, the vocabulary in the stories is great and kids learn all these new big words,” Nye says.
The Rules of Magic By Alice Hoffman
A prequel to Hoffman’s most popular book, Practical Magic, this story takes place in early ’60s. The two sisters, Franny and Jet, are witches whose family has been cursed for hundreds of years. It’s a story about love despite all the obstacles.
