The Book Spot Caters to Round Rock Community

Julie and Danny Woodfill

In 2011, The Book Spot [1]opened its doors to the suburban community of Round Rock, Texas, and, ever since, owners Danny and Julie Woodfill have been meeting the reading needs of the area’s kids, teens, and parents.

The couple who each brought different strengths to the table — Julie previously worked as an elementary school teacher and Danny owned a company that sold communication systems — carefully tested the waters before opening The Book Spot.  Danny Woodfill explained that he and Julie operated two “trial bookstores” before launching The Book Spot. Both stores were located in small spaces in areas where there was little foot traffic, and customers were invited in by the owners. In setting up trial stores, the Woodfills were able to gather input from customers to determine what worked and what didn’t.

“We try to keep our minds open, because you never know what’s going to work,” said Woodfill.

After almost two years of testing, the Woodfills opened The Book Spot with a full inventory of new and used books. The store’s current 2,800 square-foot location is in a retail area with a lot of traffic. “Within three days of moving in, we were able to open as a full, real bookstore,” said Woodfill. “We can do in a day what it took a month to do before.”

The Book Spot caters to its community’s demographic, which is very family-oriented, said Woodfill. The store recently launched a Teens Read series, which features a YA author panel discussion every month focusing on a particular genre. By distinguishing events by genre, The Book Spot is able to market them better, said Woodfill. The store kicked off the series with the theme “dystopia” and hosted authors Tracy Deebs, Mari Mancusi, and Emily McKay. Woodfill promoted the event knowing that many of his customers enjoyed The Hunger Games, and he looked forward to introducing them to new authors. “We had a great turnout,” he said. “And I think the next one will be even better.”

During the holidays, entire families were invited to the store to several different “all ages” events that featured readings and signings by picture book authors, YA authors, and adult authors.

The Book Spot is surrounded by two very large school districts. The bookstore is working with both districts to coordinate a YA festival this summer that will bring all area teens together. A large crowd is expected at this event, and several well-known authors are slated to appear.

“It’s really exciting to hear who publishers are willing to send to us for our first year,” said Woodfill. “This area has a rich kid and YA community. We’re really lucky that we can do things like this. We’ve been able to host a lot of events that are not available to everyone.”

The Book Spot's cozy kid's corner.

While Julie came from an educational background and was able to share her love of reading with her students, in the past Danny didn’t always make time to read and never really knew what his reading preferences were. He uses this to his advantage, he said, when talking to children who seem resistant to the idea of reading for fun. As soon as a reluctant reader enters his store, he is determined to find a title he or she will enjoy.

“I tell them, ‘I get that you don’t like to read because you never found something you love... yet,’” he said.

The Book Spot also features the Texas Library Association’s Bluebonnet Award [2]winners and nominees on special “Bluebonnet” shelves and hosts events for nominated authors. With about 50 elementary schools in Book Spot’s general service area, the bookstore can host authors that can’t make it to every school and share the experience with the entire community.

In addition to a large Kids and YA section, The Book Spot does well with Romance titles, which is a market that seems to be underserved by chain stores in the area, said Woodfill.

“We’re not a chain that everybody knows about, but we know we’re able to offer our customers a good selection of books,” he added. “It’s a good feeling to be able to provide that. When a kid says that it’s the best store they’ve been to, it’s like, ‘boom, success.’

“And the best thing is that it keeps getting better. Every day someone finds out we’re here.”