New Bookstore Takes Root in Baltimore

Baltimore has a new independent bookstore serving some of the northern suburbs of Baltimore County--Cross Keys, Roland Park, and Ruxton. The Ivy Bookshop, owned by Baltimore area native, Darielle Linehan, has been open since November 28, when eager customers were waiting for her to unlock the doors.

A confluence of events preceded Linehan's decision to return to Baltimore and to open The Ivy Bookshop--the demise of the four Baltimore Bibelot bookstores, the availability of space in a very desirable shopping center, and the closing of Linehan's Florida bookstore.

With her sister, Linehan ran Dunn & Dunn Booksellers (which closed in July) in Naples, Florida. Linehan said that once the Bibelot stores declared bankruptcy, "The chains were getting all their business, because there was no independent close enough."

The Ivy Bookshop changed all that when the 1,200-square-foot store opened in the Lake Falls Village Shopping Center in the Mount Washington section of Baltimore County.

Since the store is half the size of Dunn & Dunn, selection is key, Linehan said. She depends on a core inventory system: "We keep single copies of books in stock and reorder them for next-day delivery from a supplier in New Jersey. We can also order anything. Typically, when someone opens a bookstore, they stock it with a list of regional bestsellers supplied by a wholesaler, but my staff and I handpicked each book. Our inventory reflects the taste of everyone working here. It's very labor intensive. But we guarantee the quality, there are no books that we're not proud of and don't stand behind."

Linehan has assembled a staff of devoted book people from the 300 applications she received for the job. The avid readers she hired, eight part-timers and one other full-time bookseller, also had retail and computer experience. "The book industry is self selecting," Linehan commented. "Our staff is so seasoned, if they don't know [about a particular book] they can quickly find someone in the store who does."

-Nomi Schwartz