On the corner of First Capitol and Main Street, is a small, brick bookstore with green windows. Hoping to add a bookstore to the bustling shopping district, Mary Fran Rash opened Main Street Books in May of 1993. In 2006, the store was sold to Vicky Erwin who, eight years later, sold the business to Emily Schroen, the current owner.

“In late 2013, I was working an insurance job,” said Schroen. “My mom called me at work, and told me the bookstore was for sale. And I couldn’t figure out why she was telling me until she was like, well what do you think? … What do you think about buying the bookstore? And then a month and a half later, we signed the paperwork.”

Since acquiring the bookshop in 2014, Shroen has learned the joys and challenges of owning a small business. 

One of these joys, Schroen said, was sharing her love of books with her customers.

“There are a lot of things about owning a bookstore that are gratifying. One of my favorites is when somebody… when you recommend a book to someone, say ‘oh this book was great, I really liked it,’ or ‘my staff really liked it,’ or whatever, and then months later that person comes back and is like, ‘you recommended this book to me, and it was amazing, and I love it, and I recommended it to all of my friends!’ Like, that’s a really good feeling. Not only is your taste validated, but also… it builds that sense of trust and community. Y’know, people know you as a person that you can come to for good advice on books.”

Another aspect Schroen enjoys is the feeling of uniqueness.

“Being an indie bookstore is to be unique,” Schroen explained. “Bookstores are everywhere. Y’know, you have your Barnes n Noble, Books a Million, y’know, all that kinda stuff, but we also.. We’re an independent bookstore, so we have a sort of uniqueness, just sort of in the fact that there’s nothing else quite like us.”

Part of this uniqueness lies in the author signings the bookstore frequently hosts. One of these signings on Sept. 30 allowed young readers to meet author T.M. Pedroley and illustrator Cyn Watson, who were there to promote their series of children’s books, “The Adventures of Jumping Jack.”

But owning a bookstore isn’t as easy as some may think.

“We have a lot of competition with larger stores. Big box stores that stock books, or larger bookstores, or even, y’know, giant online megacorporations who discount books to… less than we would pay for them from the publisher, and that’s the price that the consumer pays. So how do we compete a corporation?” Schroen said.

As the owner of a small business, Schroen is a strong advocate for shopping locally, as opposed to at big box stores. 

“It’s very, very important to remember to support your local businesses. Whether that’s a restaurant, whether that’s a bookstore, whether it’s a clothing store, whether it’s something that’s, y’know, a little eclectic, or whatever… It’s really really important to spend your money locally, because not only do you put money back into the local economy, y’know you fund your schools, your first responders and things like that, but it also lets those stores know that you appreciate them and that you want them there,” Schroen explained. 

For Schroen, shopping local doesn’t just support small businesses, but the local economy as a whole.

“ When you spend a hundred dollars at a local business, sixty eight of those dollars stay in the community. They pay staff wages, they pay taxes, they, y’know, go into all sorts of different community things. Compared to a big box store, if you spend a hundred dollars, only 43 of those dollars stay in the community, and if you it at an online megacorporation, zero of those dollars stay in the community… maybe one or two, y’know, delivery drivers, something like that, but, very few of those dollars stay in the community. So, it is really really important to remember to shop local, and while I know it’s not possible for everybody, because things cost money! It’s really important to, when you can, support your local businesses.”

Thanks to the support of their customers, Main Street Books will soon be expanding. After 20 years in their current building, Schroen will be moving her business to a larger location, just down the street from their current one.

“We’ve been in this location for twenty years, and my family has owned this store for eleven and a half years, almost twelve years, so, by the time we hit twelve years, we’ll be, y’know, in a brand new location, the building will be ours, so we’ll have, y’know, that ability to… do whatever changes we need to do to make it our own, or to suit our needs, and then in a couple of years we’ll be able to expand out the back of the building for more space,” said Schroen. “It’s really nerve-wracking, it’s really kinda a bittersweet thing.”