PORT ANGELES — Cassidy Turner can’t remember a time when Port Book and News, the store her parents opened in Port Angeles 38 years ago, was not a part of her life.
From sleeping in a crib behind the counter to playing between the aisles to sitting on the counter asking customers if they wanted a bag for their purchase to standing behind the counter to run the register through high school, Port Book and News was a constant presence.
The smell of books, potpourri and coffee will always be inside her head, Turner, 31, said by email. She thinks back to sneaking butter cookies laid out for customers at Christmas.
But she also has memories of the years of the hard work her parents poured into the store.
So, when it was announced in September that Alan and Cindy Turner would sell Port Book and News, Cassidy Turner understood their decision.
Some customers, the Turners said, were worried.
Was the store going to close? No.
Was it going to change? Likely.
“Everybody asks, ‘What’s going to happen?’ and my answer is, ‘It’s going to get better and the jokes will improve,’” Alan said.
The Turners are selling for no reason other reason than they’re ready to move on with the next chapter of their lives.
They started Port Book and News in 1986 as a pop-up at The Landing Mall (now Port Angeles Wharf) after arriving from Mill Valley, Calif., where they had managed a bookstore for seven years.
“We had no idea what we were doing,” Alan says now.
The store’s next home was a small space next to Laurel Barbershop. They stocked it with books from Alan’s collection of authors like Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder, and quickly learned the local market leaned toward Westerns and romances.
But there also were customers who wanted to buy The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, which they couldn’t find in Port Angeles.
With Cindy driving the one car they owned to her job at H&R Block, Alan rode his bike to the post office every morning to pick up the newspapers and bring them back to the bookstore.
They also began carrying a wide selection of magazines, many of which weren’t sold in town.
“That got us a reputation with some people, and things grew from there,” Alan said.
Their first two years in business, the Turners worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with only six days off.
“You have to love it and be prepared to work,” Alan said. “You can’t open a business and expect after three months to just hire a manager, sit at home and make deposits.”
Success led to the need for more space and a move to its present location in the historic K.O. Erickson building on First Street.
Port Book and News is known for its carefully curated collection of books and non-book items. From the beginning, it mixed new and gently used books on its shelves.
“That was definitely a no-no in the industry,” Alan said. “The ABA [American Booksellers Association] would tell you never do that. But if you have a new one next to a used one, then people can choose which one they want.”
The K.O. Erickson Charitable Trust, which owns the building, has been like a business partner, Alan said, without which the store might not have survived.
“They have done so much to help us stay in business,” he said. “They could probably get more for this space than they do. They’ll do improvements on the space and not charge that back, which is extraordinary.”
The store has endured through many challenges: the Great Recession, the rise of Amazon and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The introduction of the Kindle might have had the biggest negative impact on book sales, Cindy said. You could get any title and it made a great present for someone who liked to read.
Customers eventually drifted back, the Turners said, when they realized they didn’t want to look at yet another screen after spending their work day staring at one. And, critically, customers said they missed conversations with other customers and asking staff for recommendations.
Employee Helene Pohl said helping someone find the perfect book was the best part of her job — one that’s she had since she graduated from from Port Angeles High School 14 years ago.
“Everyone who works here wants to give that same level of service,” Pohl said.
It is not just book recommendations that contribute to the store’s community spirit. There has been a marriage ceremony. Birthdays. Harry Potter midnight book release parties. Halloween giveaways of books to trick-or-treaters. Hand-delivered books and puzzles to customers during the pandemic.
Among the store’s regular customers are readers who drive from Seattle or take the Coho ferry from Victoria, B.C., for book-buying trips.
Potential buyers
Interest in the business from potential buyers has been “strong and positive,” said listing broker Eileen Schmitz of JACE Real Estate Company.
The $725,000 price includes about $400,000 in wholesale inventory. However, it’s Port Book and News’ intangible assets that create its real value, Schmitz said.
Its reputation, devoted customer base and loyal and knowledgeable staff “can’t be duplicated,” she said. A nationwide marketing campaign that is in the works will roll out within the next two weeks.
Interest in the store also is a reflection of the positive environment for independent bookstores, said Brian Juenemann, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.
Membership is at its highest since 2012, and new stores are “popping up all over the place,” he said, even though book selling is a very difficult business.
Port Book and News thrived, Juenemann said, because “they love the town and they love their customers.”
Local author Tim McNulty called Port Book and News a “treasure” for writers on the Olympic Peninsula and the West Coast.
“They would stock our books, they would host readings and talks, and they would introduce our work to readers who they think might be interested,” McNulty said. “They’re everything a bookstore is supposed to be.”
For Cassidy Turner, selling Port Book and News feels bittersweet.
“The store started with my father’s passion for literature and my mother’s love and support of that dream,” Cassidy said. “The store has been such a success due to the hard work of my parents, the support from the community and the staff throughout the years.”
The Turners will assist a new owner to the extent that person wants it, but their feeling is whoever buys the store will need to make it his or her own.
“I think if we had followed all the rules and had goals, it wouldn’t have been as fun,” Cindy said. “We didn’t have a business plan; we didn’t have anything. We just said, ‘Let’s go sell books,’ and that’s what we did.”
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by eamil at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
A “blind date with a book” is the store’s most successful recent offering. Readers select a book wrapped in brown paper with a hand-written label providing just enough information of what to expect without giving too much away — like the title or the name of the author. The concept injects an element of intrigue and surprise into book buying. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
