On April 21, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, S.C., reopened in a new storefront after being closed for just over two weeks. The new store is 1,000 square feet, about half the size of the previous space, and is located in the same shopping center. According to owner Jill Hendrix, the move had been decided on about six weeks ago and the closure followed about a month of preparation.
Hendrix explained that the larger space was great for big author events, but those came sporadically and their timing was largely up to publishers. Despite that, she was paying for that extra space every month. In an effort to get her monthly fixed costs down, she decided to move to a smaller space and instead host author events off-site when they do occur.
"Now that we can't have in-person events for the foreseeable future," Hendrix said, the decision to downsize "seems extra great in hindsight."
While the store was closed, Hendrix and her husband, Lee, started offering curbside pickup, which they will continue to offer though Fiction Addiction is open to browsing once again. She noted that under the state's orders, the store was "never 100% shut down," and can allow a limited number of shoppers in at a time.
At present, Hendrix and her husband are the only staff members coming in to the bookstore. Everyone else is working remotely. One staff member with two school-age children has been at home since schools closed in the middle of March, and another employee with a family member with Type 1 diabetes has been sheltering in place to reduce exposure.
"We are basically just following what our state regulations say we can or cannot do," said Hendrix, adding that while she feels comfortable reopening her store for browsing, she understands that other bookstore owners may not.
Hendrix reported that she applied for and received a loan from the PPP and had no trouble at all working through her bank, which is local. Despite that, she still has many questions about the program, including how the loan-forgiveness aspect of it will work.
She and her team have hosted their second virtual event in a series they began on April 8. While it is starting to pick up, she said, the number of online viewers isn't anything like the turnout they would get from an in-store event. Hendrix also gave a shout-out to SIBA, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, which has been hosting virtual events and allowing member stores to use them as they see fit.
When asked about any pleasant surprises or silver linings amid all this, Hendrix answered that possibly her favorite thing has been the fact that Bookshop.org is up and running. If Fiction Addiction ever had to shut down completely, she continued, or if she or her husband caught the coronavirus, it would be their only real way of staying in business during that time.