Inklings Celebrates 10 Years of Serving the Community

This week, Inklings Bookshop in Yakima, Washington, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The festivities began on Sunday, September 12, and will continue all week with live music, radio broadcasts, readings, and free apples from a local orchard.

Susan Richmond and her daughter-in-law used to dream of owning a bookstore. Finally, in 2000, they opened shop in an old fruit warehouse. From the beginning, their goal was to create a bookstore that serves the entire community. After five years of business, Richmond was able to see her dream become a reality.

“We realized what a good thing we had going here,” said Richmond. “So we went bigger.”

In the store's sixth year, Richmond, who is now the sole owner of the store, moved into a storefront location in a shopping area surrounded by other businesses. The store expanded from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet, and Richmond explored new ways to advertise.

“We have a new stress in advertising,” said Richmond, “and we really wanted to rely heavily on social media marketing.”

Richmond attributed much of the store's continued success to its use of Facebook and Twitter to connect with customers and make sure they're aware of scheduled events. Her goal was for the store's Facebook page to reach 1,000 fans before the end of Inklings’ anniversary celebration – and her goal was met Tuesday afternoon. Richmond was also excited to announce that Inklings recently switched its website over to an IndieCommerce site.

Richmond is attentive to the city's demographic and caters to the very large educational population in the area. Inklings distributes a monthly newsletter to teachers and has a staff position specifically for marketing to the schools in the valley.

“The whole customer base is extremely loyal,” said Richmond. “It's a community that makes a bookstore happen, and we're very grateful to have that.”