Struggles Continue for New Orleans/Gulf Coast Booksellers Almost One Year Later -- Part I

It has been nearly a year since Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and since that time, there have been countless stories detailing the storm's destruction and residents' frustration and despair, their struggles to rebuild, and their bravery and determination. Yet, little by little, the reports about Katrina's aftermath are declining in number as media attention centers on more immediate events.

But for the booksellers who recently spoke with Bookselling This Week -- some of whom watched the storm shatter their lives in a single afternoon and who are still picking up the pieces -- Katrina is an ever-present force that pervades the fabric of everyday life.

In just the past few months, several booksellers in the region have made the tough decision to close or not to rebuild, while others wait and hope for normalcy to return, and, in the process, try to make ends meet. And even the few who reported that business is doing well agree that the hurricane's aftereffects are still being felt ... and will be, probably for a long time.

Calico's House of Books in Diamondhead, Mississippi

Calico's House of Books, which opened its doors in February 2005, didn't hold a grand opening celebration until the last weekend of August, "on the Saturday before Katrina hit," Lynn Roberts, the store's owner, told BTW. Now, less than a year later, Roberts has decided that she will end the store's operations on July 31.

Roberts said Katrina's effects on her and her family have now become a worst-case scenario "where I lose my house and my business." Ten days after the storm hit, when Roberts returned to her store, she found all the books waterlogged, the roof ripped off, mold all around, shelving destroyed, and walls split. Her house also suffered severe damage in the hurricane.

Despite these troubles, however, Roberts' husband, who lost his job working surveillance with a local casino after the storm, volunteered with the Red Cross soon after Katrina hit, in the hopes he could do some good. While he was working as a volunteer, he contracted a mysterious virus that resulted in a chronic heart condition, said Roberts. "He'd had some problems before [Katrina]," she said. "But we've been exposed to a lot of things -- it's not a healthy environment."

And though her husband is doing okay now, "the doctor says he's not able to work," Roberts said, noting that they still don't know what virus he contracted.

Business at the store is not enough to carry the overhead and home expenses, said Roberts. "The business was fair, but a lot of people around here are living in FEMA trailers, and they don't want to accumulate things. They know it's temporary."

Now, Roberts, who used to work as an accountant prior to opening Calico's, will "hit the streets and try to find a job to make money -- and I need to get the benefits."

Beaucoup Books & Afro American Book Stop in New Orleans

Beaucoup Books in New Orleans, which suffered little damage during the hurricane, closed temporarily and then reopened on November 17, 2005. Just over a week later, Michele Lewis set up an outpost of New Orleans' Afro American Book Stop in one of Beaucoup's four rooms, which was offered to her by the store's owner Mary Price Dunbar.

Now both will be closing their storefronts -- one for good and one temporarily.

In early June, Mary Price Dunbar of Beaucoup Books in New Orleans announced in a letter to customers and friends that she would be closing her retail storefront on June 30. However, the store stressed that it will continue to maintain its website [1], and that customers will also be able to find them at book fairs and corporate and special events.

In the letter, Dunbar explained: "As you know, Katrina has changed so many of our lives. Although Beaucoup Books has enjoyed a wonderful rebound in sales as so many loyal customers have returned to the city, I feel that now is the time to take care of myself and spend more time with my family. I thank you for your business these past two decades and, most of all, for shopping locally. This is vitally important for the economic health of our city."

Lewis, who lost her home and her two bookstores to the hurricane in August, is "leaving the retail side temporarily," she told BTW.

At present, everything is in flux for Lewis, who is also expecting her first child. "I have started the rebuilding process as far as my home is concerned," she said, though the area where it was located, New Orleans East, was "hit really hard" and has not repopulated as "quickly as I had hoped. I'm still in a temporary apartment I've rented in uptown. There's a lot of uncertainty."

Compounding matters, Lewis said she doesn't know where to even begin to look for a new storefront yet. Her previous store was located in a predominantly African-American neighborhood in New Orleans East that made up her customer base and "that's one of the reasons why my store was successful. My desire is to reopen where African Americans begin to repopulate, but I haven't figured out yet where that will be and that's my dilemma."

Pass Christian Books in Pass Christian, Mississippi

Pass Christian Books, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, which was completely wiped out by Hurricane Katrina, will be "back in a physical location in about six weeks in a new building that's under construction," said Scott Naugle. "We'll be one of the building's tenants." The new store location will not be permanent, but the store plans to be there for two or three years, Naugle said. Pass Christian has thus far been conducting business via its website [2].

The new location will be a few miles north of the store's previous location, and Naugle noted that it would have been extremely difficult to try to build within even a block or two of the old space. However, he described their new building as "beautiful" and said Pass Christian will be next door to a popular restaurant. The bookstore will be 700-square-feet "with a huge front porch, which will be helpful for [author] signings."

But while Naugle eagerly looks to the future, the town is still coping with Katrina's destruction. "Debris removal is ongoing," he said. "The mayor resigned ... and [the town] has to deal with the issue of rebuilding to height elevations that FEMA recommended." In addition, the bridge across St. Louis Bay has not been rebuilt. "That's a major artery -- it brought traffic from New Orleans. Now there's no easy way to get here without that bridge."

As for book sales, Naugle noted that, recently, they have been "very good, this past April and May were in line with the prior year -- within a few dollars." Pass Christian has been selling through various channels: online, book signings ("we rent [meeting rooms] in the Gulf Port Holiday Inn"), book clubs, and word-of-mouth. The store stockroom is currently located in Naugle's first-floor bedroom.

Each month is like "tilling new ground," Naugle said. "We're missing the consistency of the storefront. When you have a storefront, you have a foundation for the level of sales you can anticipate."

Faulkner House in New Orleans

Faulkner House Books in New Orleans is located in the French Quarter, and it suffered roof damage during the storm. When BTW spoke to Faulkner's Joe DiSalvo in March 2006, he reported that the store's roof was still leaking. He finally received his insurance settlement on June 15.

Overall, DiSalvo, whose bookstore is dependent on visitors, said that there was "no tourism to speak of," though the American Library Association convention was "a little bit of a shot in the arm."

In the meantime, DiSalvo is trying to solicit, via a postcard mailing, mail order and telephone sales from previous customers who now live out-of town. He said he would just slug it out through July, August, and September and hope that there's no evacuation again. "It's pretty scary if you focus beyond the next day."

Bookends in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Across the bay from where Pass Christian Books was destroyed, in Bay St. Louis, Susan Daigre's Bookends met a similar fate at the hands of Katrina. After the initial shock of the devastation wore off, she decided that she would reopen her bookstore in a new location and was hoping to be up and running by May. However, Daigre told BTW that doubts about the bookstore's viability in the current climate crept in, and she has since made a tough choice to not reopen Bookends.

"The climate here is so different," Daigre said. She explained that a lot of residents "have bailed -- and you can't blame them if you look around [at the devastation]. I was a bookseller for almost 18 years. I did it well, and it was wonderful. But to bring it back in this climate, I didn't know if it would work."

Daigre said another key factor in her decision was that her husband wanted to start a business selling modular homes. "We were thinking about [opening the business] before, when we didn't have to, and now we have to," she said. "My husband ... is the most supportive person in the world ... but I couldn't do a bookstore and support him. And to deal with the destruction all around, it was just so much, so I decided to let the bookstore go ... as much as it breaks my heart." Moreover, finances were also a factor. "I can't do this to my family for the next few years -- it's just not the same market."

Daigre added that she doesn't know if she is "out of the book business altogether" and is keeping her tax number and Federal ID number. She will continue to participate in the reading programs at the library and at local schools. "I can't give it up altogether," she said.

As for the town of Bay St. Louis, Daigre, who only moved back into her home last week, believes it will be a while before there's a semblance of normalcy. "I'm not saying the town won't come back, but man, it's taking a lot longer.... It will be years and years."

Fortunately, there is no violence or looting. "Everybody's too damned tired.... There are no more easy days." --David Grogan [3]

(Part Two of this series will appear in the July 6 edition of Bookselling This Week.)