Meagan Flynn spent a Saturday in late November reading books to young children at her new bookstore, Black Rock Books, in Bridgeport. Flynn does this regularly, patiently explaining to her young audience what she’s reading and at times, letting them read instead.
It’s what keeps her going, she says.
“Being able to read a story to kids and seeing their engagement; that's when I feel like, 'OK, it's working,'" Flynn said.
Flynn read from a book called "I Will Read to You" by Gideon Sterer. The book is about a young boy who loves scary bedtime stories about monsters and witches. He goes out one day, with a book in tow, searching for the monsters in the story so that he can read to them.
The book is also about finding connection through reading, which is exactly what Flynn and her business partner, Emily Welch, are trying to do in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport. The bookstore is the second of its kind in the neighborhood to open over the last few years.
Families stopping by the 500-square-foot store is something Flynn particularly likes.
“Grandma's looking for the classics that she liked when she was a kid and mom's looking for the classics that she liked,” she said.
Business was uneven the first few months, but the store is packed for its weekend events, the owners say.
When story hour ended, the children left with their parents after a few made purchases. The bookstore is soon empty, and Flynn waits for customers while vacuuming the store. It quickly becomes a selling space once again.
“We sell a lot of picture books, those make great gifts. We sell a lot of fantasy for adults,” Flynn said.
They are also deeply focused on affordability, Welch said.
“People in the community who want to support us drop off donations that we sell at a really low price, but there is no cost to us,” Welch said.
Flynn and Welch are making their store a communal space for book lovers, but it took communal support from another bookstore in the city to give them a fighting chance.
The area is considered one of the hardest spots to operate a small business. And there's a number of reasons why, said Beth Ineson, executive director of the New England Independent Booksellers Association.
“The price of commercial real estate, the cost of living, it is not easy, the minimum wage, it is not the easiest prospect to open a business in the entire region,” Ineson said.
Flynn and Welch pressed on anyway, starting a GoFundMe to raise the $20,000 needed to open the store back in May. By June, when the store was about to open, Flynn and Welch went over their inventory at their store, one by one, trashing books in poor physical condition.
One thing going for them at the time was their location, Welch said. The store is at 3030 Fairfield Ave., a busy road with lots of foot traffic.
“When businesses open here, they don't leave, there's very (little) turnover,” Welch said.
But a good location can only do so much to keep a business thriving.
Karin Smith is the co-owner of Kindred Thoughts, the first independent bookstore to open in Bridgeport over the last few years. Smith started her business along with Derek Tompkins in 2021. Flynn and Welch spoke to Smith before they opened their store, looking for advice.
Turns out, a first time bookstore owner can fall prey to some common pitfalls.
“One of the lessons learned was not to overstock, even on certain titles,” Smith said.
Smith pointed to when she ordered copies of the actor Will Smith’s memoir which was released in 2021.
“This was pre-slap,” Smith said. “But we were still so unknown, that even with the brand that he carries in and of himself, it was hard to move those, it took us many months to move the Will Smith books.”
Armed with those tips, Flynn and Welch have managed to stay afloat, even after their first month of sales, which stood at $11,000, began to dip into the summer.
But they’ve also begun to build genuine connections with people. The shop hosts a poetry night, Flynn said. She spoke of a young woman finding mentorship with older poets. Others come for author events.
Flynn and Welch are finding out what other booksellers across the country are seeing; people are eager for independent bookstores, according to Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association. Over 200 independent bookstores have opened nationwide this year, she said.
The pandemic’s serious impacts on small businesses have made people realize stores like Black Rock Books are what make a neighborhood, a neighborhood.
“People really realize what's at stake, when we lose these communities, small businesses are a part of the fabric of our neighborhoods,” Hill said.
Connecticut, she said, has seen six bookstores open this year, including Black Rock Books. But one is already beginning to shut down, she said.
Keeping a business open, while being everything she expected, Flynn said, still took a lot out of her.
“My life is very wrapped up in this,” Flynn said. “I'm here a lot.”
