New Gulf Coast Bookstore Set to Open

When Hurricane Katrina blew into Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, at about this time last year, it destroyed roads, homes, and businesses, and put many retailers out of business, including the popular independent bookstore, Bookends.

But one sign that things may be changing for the better can be found in a storefront situated just a half-block from where Bay St. Louis' ravaged Main Street abruptly falls away into nothing. It is there that Kay Gough will open her new independent bookstore, Bay Books, on Saturday, September 9, just in time for town's monthly "Second Saturday" event.

Gough told BTW that, even though "half of Bay St. Louis was washed away, and a quarter of the housing was lost, [the town] never missed a Second Saturday." The event features food and drink, musical entertainment, and an "art walk."

Kay Gough

Prior to becoming a bookseller, Gough, a self-described book lover who moved to Bay St. Louis about three years ago, was volunteering at the Chamber of Commerce. "It was there that I met Susan Daigre [former owner of Bookends]," explained Gough. "For a while we thought she would reopen, but, as it turns out, she couldn't devote her attention to it."

Since Daigre made the decision to join her husband's modular home business (something desperately needed in Bay St. Louis, Gough stressed), it left open a glaring vacancy for a bookstore -- something that residents really seemed to want, she explained.

"A town really needs a good bookstore," Gough said. "In the spring I met with a business counselor. She was very encouraging.... She asked me to write a business plan for my bookstore and told me to go for it. It's been very heartwarming: I've received encouragement from so many people in town. Every day, people peek inside and ask me when am I going to open."

Through the opening process, Gough said, her feelings have fluctuated between "elation and terror. It's very sobering to drive in every day and pass vacant lots. People come down here and say you're very ambitions, but I think it's something that is required for this town."

One of the biggest obstacles for Gough is simply that "everything takes longer than you would think it should here. Nothing is simple because the infrastructure was so destroyed."

However, Gough noted that she has received help from the local Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Development Center at the University of Mississippi, which has an office at the Chamber. "And ABA was a great source of information. I studied ABACUS religiously ... and used that extensively in my business plan," she said.

In addition, Gough said she tried to glean advice from other independent booksellers in her region. "Other booksellers were encouraging and wonderful," she reported. "They'd ask me if I knew what I was getting into, and when I said I did, they were very enthusiastic.... They gave me a lot of good advice and said, Here's some things to think about, such as inventory management."

Overall, Bay St. Louis is "slowly coming back," Gough continued. "A lot of businesses moved [inland] a few miles and a lot of restaurants reopened." However, she noted, there are still about 8,000 families still living in FEMA trailers. The "Old Town" area, adjacent to where Main Street was torn up and where Beach Boulevard was washed into the sea, is also on the mend. In addition to Bay Books, Old Town has gift shops, a jeweler, and an art gallery. --David Grogan