Simply Books, a new and used bookstore, opened recently at 2701 Powder Basin Ave. in Gillette, Wyo. The News Record reported that for more than 10 years owner Sara Marker had wanted to open up a bookstore, but she never followed through on that dream until this year.
The bookshop will offer primarily adult fiction, along with some nonfiction and children's and YA titles. Stickers, bookmarks and other sidelines also will be featured. Marker is currently working on getting the store's website set up for online ordering.
"The community support has been overwhelmingly positive," Marker said. "Everything has fallen into place."
While Marker has loved books and reading for as long as she can remember, her path to opening a bookstore was not direct. After graduating from high school in 2005, she joined the Navy, serving until she was honorably discharged in 2007. She then went to work at Black Thunder mine, where she spent the next five years, followed by a series of jobs until she landed at the Harley-Davidson dealership, where she shadowed Maria Ruiz.
"I learned more from her than anywhere else," Marker said. "She was the best resource and teacher for business stuff that I've ever had."
She recalled that a conversation with her grandfather over Christmas break last year spurred her decision to open the bookstore: "The main thing he told me was, 'You're always going to find a reason to not do it. Something's always going to come up, you're going to feel like you're not good enough or you don't have what it takes....' Without that conversation, I don't know that I would've taken the initiative."
She eventually found a space in the old Alien Ink building, next to the former K's Koffee and Deli. "This is a great location," she said. "I wanted something in the retail corridor, and it just--the timing was right."
As last weekend's opening approached, she observed: "I'm kind of panicking a little bit, but it feels like I actually have a purpose for myself."