Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop

Last week when Amazon and Jeff Bezos launched their latest salvos, I was dealing with my seasonal cold. So I really couldn’t pull it together enough to formulate my response. And probably a good thing since I’ve had time to temper the message. I did have time to ponder exactly what it is I love about the Indie Book business – what we bring to the community, what the community delivers to us. And on a broader scale what I love about local businesses in general. Since I have lived in the area I have seen a lot of businesses come and go. Some of them I miss greatly. I do my best to make sure I support the businesses I love, but I do on occasion debate whether it is worth the extra effort to shop in different stores. Like a lot of folks time and money can be really tight for me. Each time I still find myself making my shopping decision for the betterment of my community. In the last 13 years, I have purchased exactly 4 times from Amazon or Zappos. Much of it right when I moved to California, because I did not always know where to find things. And yes, each of those times I did dutifully report the sale and required tax. So to my point, here’s what I love and what I cannot get from my internet experience-

1. I love seeing a kid talk to an author. Reading is usually a fairly private experience, and to meet the person that provided an amazing personal moment is outstanding. A face to face connection with someone who wrote EXACTLY what was needed at a specific time.
2. I love finding THE book that turns a kid into a reader. Better than giving them a passport and a ticket, it opens up a bigger world.
3. I love finding THE book that someone wants to share with a reader, be it a gift, a purchase for a school or library. It is disseminating magic to the bigger world.
4. I love meeting the folks that CRAFT this magic. Putting an emotion or idea into a concrete form. Opening a bit of themselves for the rest of us to discover.
5. I love GIVING this magic through donations to the community. I also love providing a venue to fundraise or advertise for local groups and organizations.

As a business person, I can give you hard numbers about how many times this happens. (I bet you would be surprised.) But that is not the point of this post. The point of this post is that I (we) love being here for you. And we love that you’re here for us. I am putting together a little “Love Your Locals” idea for the rest of the holiday season, so stay tuned. I hope each of you has the chance to join us and share the magic. Thanks- Andrea