Hicklebee's Celebrates 30 Years of Accomplishments

How does a children's bookstore celebrate 30 years in business? With the Banana Slug String Band, of course! On April 18, San Jose's Hicklebee's will host a daylong party featuring the string band, children's authors, prize drawings, and a slide show looking back at the highlights of three decades.

"We've provided around 50 customers who have been solid supporters over the years with a special invitation to share the green room with authors," said Hicklebee's co-owner Valerie Lewis via e-mail. "They will also receive birthday certificates (so they can choose a book from Hicklebee's on their birthday) and chances in special drawings."

Staff -- many have been working at the store for more than 15 years -- will get their own party. Lewis explained, "In the evening we'll celebrate with our professional colleagues: staff (present and past), authors, illustrators, booksellers, publishers, reps, and family. We have scores of posters from the past that will decorate the store, a great band, and endless stories."

Originally interested in children's radio, Lewis fell into bookselling when three friends -- Jan Gottlieb, Georgia Osborne, and Vicki Villarreal -- invited her to open a children's bookstore. "I threw out the radio idea and dove headfirst into Hicklebee's (a name I came up with at 3:00 in the morning while tripping over the word 'pickle')," said Lewis, adding that she discovered the meaning of Hicklebee when a young mother came into the store with her children and explained it. "They concluded over dinner, the night before, that it if a caterpillar could become a butterfly then surely a bookworm would become a Hicklebee. Their clever conclusion gave birth to our 'Hicklebee, the final metamorphic stage of the bookworm.'"

The three friends with whom Lewis opened the store have long since left, and now she co-owns the 3,400-square-foot Hicklebee's with her sister, Monica Holmes. Store sections include picture books, middle-grade readers, nonfiction, science, poetry, and myths and legends.

The Hicklebee's staff.

The experience of the store's 19-person staff equals more than 200 years of immersion in children's books, and that collective bookselling knowledge has earned Hicklebee's its share of accolades. Its most recent honor is for service to the community, bestowed by State Senator Joe Simitian, who selected Hicklebee's as his district's Small Business of the Year.

"Hicklebee's is a champion in the world of reading," said a statement from Simitian. "Over the years they've introduced generations of children to the magic of books.... As we watch the continual 'malling of America,' we ought to take a moment to appreciate our locally owned, neighborhood bookstores. They are helping to grow the next generation of well-read young adults."

Hicklebee's has also won a Women's National Book Association Pannell Award and has been voted Best Children's Bookstore by Bay Area Parents Magazine and Best Bookstore by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lewis is busy planning for the big birthday, but she's about to become much busier. Hicklebee's will be opening three outposts at the Mineta San Jose International Airport in November -- one store and two kiosks. "We are working with Host, which creates retail businesses in airports," said Lewis. "Their designers have spent time in our store to create a similar feel. We will give them inventory lists and work on a regular basis with their staff. We are excited about the scores of possibilities of selling to people on the move."

Since 1979 Lewis and company have experienced their share of changes at the store. Lewis noted just a few. "We have no more microfiche and actually have one computer terminal with almost a flat screen. Mostly physical changes depend on what leaks the most, and new events seem to come in the mail with a new book or with a spark from a customer."

Preparations for April 18 led to some reflection on what Lewis and Holmes have created for their community. "I don't mean to sound cheeky," Lewis said, "but I just finished watching a half hour of slides one of our staff put together of our history and I'm amazed at how much we have accomplished over the years." --Karen Schechner