Bloomington bookstore survives pandemic, toasts 50th year

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Caveat Emptor is full of stories.

About 40,000 carefully vetted books line the shelves inside the used and rare bookstore at 112 N. Walnut St.

But after surviving five decades through multiple location changes, a rise in technology use, a global pandemic and a change in ownership, Caveat Emptor surely has its own tale to tell.

Eric Brown, who owns the store with his wife, Catherine Brown, said society has devalued books, not just monetarily, but as artifacts to be appreciated and cultivated.

'œIt's a near religious mission for us to keep it alive,'ť Eric Brown said recently while sitting inside the store.

And they have, even though the COVID-19 pandemic forced an overnight shift in the business model last year. June 4 marked 50 years in business for Caveat Emptor, but celebrations are continuing throughout the month.

The history of Caveat Emptor:

Janis Starcs was trying to figure out what to do with his life.

He'd attended Indiana University and frequented used bookstores in Indianapolis, but missed having one in Bloomington. He thought a university town could use such a business, so Starcs, along with four other book-lovers, opened the store in 1971.

'œIt took a while before we got established and we made mistakes as people always do entering a new business, and we really weren't business people initially ourselves,'ť Starcs said. 'œWe had all been students in the fairly recent past and all were at loose ends for various reasons at the time.'ť

As an IU student in the '90s, Brown often went first to Caveat Emptor in downtown Bloomington. He's been surrounded by books back as early as he can remember, crediting his love of books to his father, Larry, who would take him to bookstores.

It was 2016 when the frequent visitor to the store got a call from his wife, Catherine Brown, to share the news that Caveat Emptor was for sale.

'œI said, '~Oh, well I've got to go because I've got to go buy a bookstore,' totally joking, like, I'll be back with a bookstore,'ť Brown said.

But in fact, that's exactly what he did. He felt strongly compelled to buy it since otherwise, it would likely disappear. The Browns already had been selling books online as a hobby and Eric Brown also runs One Pulse Entertainment. At the time of the sale, the store was still owned by two of the original five, Starcs and Don Wilds.

When the Browns bought the store, it was a relief, Starcs said. He was getting tired of keeping up with the bills and was getting older. He's now 78, but even before the Browns stepped in, it was getting harder to move heavy boxes of books. The Browns had energy and good ideas, he said, like how to use social media to promote the store.

'œIt's still a small business basically,'ť Starcs said. 'œIt filled a niche that nobody else is doing right now.'ť

In early 2020, the Browns were on their first vacation in four years when they learned about the pandemic. They shut the store down.

'œWe got back and immediately started to figure out, how can we change our business model overnight?'ť Brown said.

They knew they needed an increased online presence. Brown said he's not totally comfortable in the digital age, or at least how it currently manifests itself. He describes himself as old school, so despite Caveat Emptor having a website and social media, he didn't update it or post much.

'œSo the irony of us sort of being anti-technology, I can admit this, is it kind of saved our store,'ť Brown said.

It was the way Brown could connect with customers and the avenue through which he set his new plans for revenue into action. He created a bike courier service to deliver books to people's doors, and as the sole deliverer, estimates that he put 1,000 miles on his bike last summer.

A customer donated a kid carrier that attaches to a bike, so Brown's bike is referred to as the book buggy.

'œI don't know if this is a smart thing and I don't recommend it, it's just my philosophy to do what you love,'ť Brown said. 'œI know that it's cliché and romanticized and it is a romantic notion, and you probably pay for it with way more work than you would ever sign up for, but I love riding my bike around Bloomington. I love Bloomington. I love books.'ť

There was enough money to pay rent for March and April, but that was it. Taking specific orders online would've taken too much energy and Caveat Emptor may not have had the exact books people wanted, so the store began offering book care packages where people could select a genre and receive a curated package fit for their interests.

They sold a few care packages, but it got to the point where Brown had to make a social media post informing the community that they gave it everything they had, but the rent couldn't be paid. He asked people to consider getting a care package.

What happened next could be compared to a scenario out of a horror movie, Brown said, where a character like Freddy Krueger is perceived to be dead, then resurrects. The same has been true of Caveat Emptor - on the verge of closing then being revived yet again.

'œThe book buying community stepped up,'ť Brown said. 'œI woke up the next day and we had like 600 orders. And at first I was jumping for joy, I was elated because we saved the bookstore yet again. It's amazing it made it to 50 years.'ť

His joy turned to fright, he said, because there was no crew. Even after the state reopened, Caveat Emptor remained closed to the public to err on the side of caution and because the Browns didn't want to put immunocompromised employees at risk.

Each of the 600 orders took about 15 to 30 minutes to curate because each was personalized, carefully compiled to be interesting to the buyer, Brown said.

So many orders were coming in that he had to shut down the website, since more orders would've become unmanageable.

Though that sale of care packages saved the store for the time being, Brown also started seeking other sources of revenue. Around last August or September, he considered what the perfect gift for someone like himself would be - a bookstore all to themselves. People being able to browse the shelves alone or in small groups was a safe option, and those opting for the book browsing experience automatically received a discount on their purchases.

The bicycle courier service and book browsing experience continue to be offered and care packages are expected to be offered again via the website as time allows. Brown expects them to be back up later this month.

Brown also has been working on creating a nonprofit organization, BTown Books, and is seeking help from those in the community with nonprofit expertise.

Brown sees it as a critical next step in the overarching mission to revalue books.

John McGuigan has worked at Caveat Emptor for about 20 years and feels optimistic about the future, noting that more people are reading since the pandemic.

'œIt looks to me now to be stronger than ever, so I suspect that it's going to be around for quite a while, long after I finally leave the store,'ť McGuigan said. 'œI'm semi-retired myself, but I do this as much for fun as anything else. So I think the store is in good hands right now and I think the future looks really, really good.'ť

McGuigan, who has always been a book collector and had a 30-year career in scholarly book publishing, immediately gravitated toward Caveat Emptor upon moving to Bloomington to complete a Ph.D. in folklore at IU. He'd been working as a manager at Barnes and Noble when Starcs mentioned he needed more help at Caveat Emptor. McGuigan was happy to join since rare books are what he enjoys.

McGuigan said when working, so many different things can happen depending on who comes through the door.

'œIt's a varied crowd, it runs the gamut from homeless people to world famous celebrities,'ť McGuigan said.

Every day that the bookstore is kept alive is inherently rewarding, Brown said. Getting collections of books can be a way to help others, since for some people, books are a burden. People have called the store after a loved one died, not knowing what to do with their book collection, Brown said.

'œI get to help them, they help us and then we turn around and put the books in the book ecosystem in Bloomington,'ť Brown said. 'œAnd then that person's collection goes full circle, the book has another life and someone else is going to read it. That cycle of the life of a book and helping everybody symbiotically along the way - that's my favorite part.'ť

McGuigan does most of the book buying for the store. He has appointments with people who want to sell their books, though at least 75% of what comes through the door isn't purchased so the store can maintain a certain level of quality, he said. Then come the customers who'd like recommendations of what to read, so McGuigan takes time to get a sense of what they'd enjoy. Caveat Emptor has books that have long been out of print or simply aren't available in any new bookstore. Just recently, the store purchased a Bible from 1600 that predates the King James Bible and an original set of sermons from the 1500s by Hugh Latimer, who was burned at the stake under Queen Mary, McGuigan said.

Any university town needs to have a used bookstore so people can get money for books they're getting rid of and so they can find books they need or want quickly - even if they don't know they need or want them yet, Starcs said.

'œIt's like going to a library,'ť he said. 'œYou may have a reading list with bibliographies and things, but serendipity is an important way of learning and is an important way of keeping your mind alive.'ť

The way to keep Caveat Emptor in business is simple.

'œBasically, if people want to see places like Caveat Emptor around, they need to buy some books,'ť Starcs said. 'œBecause if they can't pay their rent and they can't pay their bills, they're not going to be around.'ť

Caveat Emptor's 50th anniversary is being celebrated all month through book sales. New items including T-shirts and tote bags are also available to mark the milestone.

'œI think we need to learn again to value institutions, that if 2020 taught us anything, are precarious,'ť Brown said. 'œInstitutions can fold, devolve, disappear, be ruined overnight. And when you've got a 50-year history of an institution like this in Bloomington and the IU community, generally it shouldn't be taken for granted. It should be patronized; people should frequent it.'ť

For more information, visit caveatemptorbloomington.com or find Caveat Emptor on social media.

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Source: The Herald-Times