None of my Business S6:E1- Bruce and Laura Delaney

We are off and running with season six and we have some great guests on the docket. We start off with Bruce and Laura Delaney who own Rediscovered Books in the heart of downtown Boise.

I really enjoyed the conversation we have and It’s always fun to have a husband and wife team on the show. These two opened their bookstore in 2006. A seemingly ominous time to open a bookstore with Amazon picking up steam and the Kindle looming.

Turns out, the independent bookstore community is amazing. People do like the convenience of ordering from their couch. That experience cannot come close to the experience we all feel when entering a bookstore. Laura says she has observed how people react to just walking into their store. It starts with a deep sigh, followed by a small smile. It’s like they’ve entered a safe haven where everything will be ok. If only for a while.

We discussed how they started their business. Why did they want to open a bookstore after almost working 2 decades as employees in different fields? They wanted to work together and build something and one of their favorite things to do together was to spend time getting lost in bookstores.

Bruce and Laura were really smart in their plan to accomplish this. They visited dozens of bookstores around the Northwest and started collecting books by the 1000’s. A lot of garage sales were attended.

We then go on and talk about how they survived their first few years. How did they grow a following? How was their location treating them? We talk about the explosion of the internet, the way people were reading and how that affected their business. Or did it? You may be surprised.

Their business has evolved over the years. They moved from their original location to downtown Boise. They changed their inventory from mostly used, to mostly new. I am always interested in how and why these decisions were made and Bruce and Laura give us some insight on how these strategic decisions were made.

They have built a wonderful business here in Boise. A business that I believe the community really needed. If you haven’t been into a bookstore in awhile I encourage you to go. Block off a half an hour (at lease), go to Rediscovered Books, enter the store and take that deep soothing breath and get lost.

My thanks to Bruce and Laura for coming in and sharing their story with me!