Parkplace Books: Building on Its Winning Tradition

Over the past decade or so, in the Lake Washington area of Washington state, 12 independent bookstores have closed their doors. However, it's not all doom and gloom. In the lakefront city of Kirkland, there's one independent bookstore that is not only thriving, but growing: Parkplace Books. Currently, the bookstore is expanding from 4,000 square feet to 7,000.

"For the last three years, we've been the last remaining independent bookstore," said Mary Harris, co-owner of Parkplace Books, who originally hails from South Africa. "Our community is very proud and supportive, and that's what kept us going."

The new owners of Parkplace Books, from left to right, are: Jim Lauinger, Mary Harris (front), and Rebecca Willow.

Harris co-owns the bookstore, which is located in an outdoor mall close to Washington Lake, with Rebecca Willow and Jim Lauinger. The group bought the store in February from the original owners, Kathi and Ted Lucia.

The Lucias opened Parkplace 17 years ago, and, in that time, built a thriving business, the foundation of which was its emphasis on customer service and its good rapport with the community. These are principals that Harris knows well. Prior to purchasing Parkplace, she worked for the Lucias for 13 years, as did Willow, for 11 years. And while this is Lauinger's first foray into the book business, he is well known in the community -- he formerly owned a pharmacy in the city and is a member of the city council.

Harris believes that these ingredients will help ensure that Parkplace Books remains a successful and important part of the community. "We want to carry on the traditions of the previous owners," she said. "I think that it's positive that we've taken over because the customers know us -- we can keep these traditions but also build on them."

The new owners are certainly doing just that. The first thing Harris, Willow, and Lauinger did after buying the store was to expand the children's section, which is now in its own contained area within the store. "That makes it very nice for customers," said Harris, who is in charge of the section. She added that the expanded section would sell toys in conjunction with books.

In July, the process of expanding the store to 7,000 square feet began, and the work should be completed by the end of August, Harris said. At present, business is being conducted in the "new" side of the store, she told BTW, while work is done on the "old" side. She said that the remodeled section will have a fireplace with a seating area, which, among other things, will be used for events. Furthermore, the owners are having a new storefront put on Parkplace. "It's a beautiful, classic, Northwestern storefront [design], and it's wooden," she explained. Also, the remodeled store will have a gift and card section, which Lauinger will manage, Harris said.

Toward the end of the month, a café will be opening up in a storefront between Parkplace and a movie theater, Harris continued. "There will be a door leading from the bookstore into the café," she said. The café will serve light fare and beer and wine.

A benefit to the expansion, said Harris, is now the store will be able to devote more space to the Book Sense lists. "In the re-model, we will extend our display of Book Sense," she said. "We're hoping to be able to display the full 76 -- we'll probably have a partial, designated shelf space for it, and my intention is to display the Children's Top Ten."

Harris said the 76 lists are important part of being an independent bookstore. "We can say to them, these are books chosen by people like us -- as you rely on us for judgment, you can rely on [the Book Sense 76]," she explained. "You can't read everything that comes in, so with the list, I can say that this person from this bookstore recommends it."

Not everything is being changed at Parkplace Books. Harris stressed that the store's emphasis will continue to be quality customer service. Additionally, the store will maintain its focus on book and discussion groups. "We're affiliated with 56 book groups," she said. "Eighteen months ago, we started the Socrates Café, and that's been wonderful for us. It's a philosophical discussion group that was started by one of our local customers. It's held once a month." The store also holds a popular "Book Club Review," at which twice a year, in August and February, each of the nine Parkplace staff members recommend and preview their choice of up to eight reading group titles.

All in all, Harris and her partners are enjoying the experience of running an independent bookstore that they've known so well for more than a decade. "We're having a spectacular time," she said. --David Grogan