Retail Roundup: Former teacher to open bookshop
A former English teacher-turned-salesman is marrying his two professions by opening a used bookstore in Roanoke’s Wasena neighborhood.
Steve Padgett plans to open The Main Street Bookwormwithin a month, he said.
The small shop sits on Main Street near the Brandon Avenue intersection in a space that is familiar to Padgett.
His mother operated a dog grooming business in the building for 30 years. (The business was sold to Padgett’s aunt, and later his sister, who moved it just down the street where it continues to operate.) The building has been vacant since the grooming business moved.
Padgett and his wife, Penni, are voracious readers, and Padgett said he is frequently called upon by friends to recommend books. Those friends encouraged him to pursue the bookstore.
“I had always wanted to have a bookstore,” he said. “I just finally decided that I’d do it.”
Padgett initially will stock the store mostly with books from his own bookshelves.
“I’ve bought thousands and thousands of dollars’ worth of books over the last few years,” he said.
In addition to fiction and nonfiction, he plans to carry a large selection of children’s books.
Owning a business is new to Padgett, but his work as a teacher and currently as a sales manager forMcNeil Roofing and Sheet Metal has prepared him for owning the bookstore, he said.
Padgett hopes to have the store open soon. He’s already put down new flooring, coated the walls and ceiling with fresh paint and ordered the bookshelves, which are in storage.
Also in Sunday’s Retail Roundup column, a Roanoke County chocolatier is turning her passion for candies into partnerships with other local businesses, and a cabinetry store that started in a Vinton warehouse more than two years ago has moved to Salem where it now has a showroom.
February 24, 2013 - 9:11 AM
I’m sorry to be so pessimistic, but opening a book store? It must be nice to have money to poor down the drain. In today’s world this is tantamount to opening a T.V. repair shop for analogue T.V.’s and VHS tape players.
It’s only a matter of time before the big box book stores become dinosaurs in today’s high tech world. With today’s computer, Iphone, Ipads, ereaders, devices I don’t even have a clue to what all they do, but I do know they are making books a thing of the past.
I have a friend who is 76 and now reads his books on whatever these high tech devices are, and with children 3 and 4 using computers, there is no need to even go to the libraries anymore. Everyone I know, including myself goes to the library to rent movies, use computers or use the access to the Internet. So, one day in the future kids will see a book lying somewhere and say, “What’s that”?
Well, I hope you are wrong, Mr. Howard. Technology, in my opinion, can never replace the tactility of a good, old-fashioned hardback book.
Best of luck! I will certainly patronize your establishment once and if you act glad to have me as a customer I will return many times. I have yet to find a bookstore in Roanoke that seems to appreciate my business so I am looking forward to this.
Looking forward to the bookstore opening !
Hopefully this will be a nice addition to redevelop Main Street in Wasena. Wasena is a great neighborhood.
For the record, you do not ‘rent’ movies at the Library.
You check them out just as you do books which many of us prefer.
Amanda, have you heard any more about Cardinal Camera coming to Roanoke? I believe you reported several months ago that a Cardinal Camera would open up in Valley View Mall last August. I was really excited, but that never happened. Do you know if they still plan on opening a store in Roanoke? Thank you!
R.D……I hope I’m wrong also…! I love Wasena, I was born in my family home in the area….I hate how technology is changing the world for the worse, not that are not great thing from it……But, the writing is on the wall, not in the books, that they are desinted to become relics. And I can’t but send my most sincere best wishes for the stores success..
@Happy: Funny you should ask because I have been trying to get in touch with the owner the past two weeks to get an update. Last time I talked with him he said he planned to open this winter where Cold Stone Creamery closed. I heard from the property owner a few weeks ago that Cardinal hasn’t yet signed a lease. I will keep working on getting an update.
I agree that the big-box book retailers are on the way out. But that leaves room for the return of the high-quality, small-volume indie book sellers they put out of business when they were in vogue. I read a lot online but some books & magazines will outlast this latest trend. If Mr. Padgett is planning to diversity by connecting with and working with print-on-demand titles, he may do ok. That end of Main Street is less appealing to the passing trade than the area down by the greenway, he’ll need some serious signage for people to notice it.
@ tass — very well said! And I agree. I do not wish to see the big boys fail, but perhaps some smaller, specialty shops will begin popping up to fill the void left when they do. Just think how nice it would be to be able to walk into a store and buy clear index tabs, instead of having to order them online and wait for them to appear at their mother ship (local big box retail), although shipping is free? I know! Inane example, but a true and frustrating situation for me personally! Good luck to you, Mr. Howard! Be sure to advertise your Grand Opening!
Thanks Amanda! I do hope they come to Roanoke!
@Happy: I still haven’t been able to get in touch with the owner of Cardinal Camera, but I did talk to the landlord of the shopping plaza where the camera store is supposed to be located. The landlord told me that although a lease has been negotiated, Cardinal hasn’t signed it yet. The landlord said that if something doesn’t happen soon he might have to lease it to another retailer.
So glad another bookstore is coming, especially interesting in this neighborhood. Closeness to Kroger may help. I hope it will have comfy armchairs and a resident cat. Used books are less expensive than new ones and generlaly come with recommendations, another plus. I wish Mr. Padgett good luck–funny, a friend gave me a heads-up about his sister’s business just Friday. She does excellent work, and is much more reasonable than Petco.