Monarch Books, a new and used bookshop, opened in April at 696 S. Main St. in Lebanon, Ore. Lebanon Local reported that 18-year-old owner Sydney-Anne Graves was preparing for her high school graduation and "working at the tea house across the street when the previous bookstore closed, and her boss at the time suggested it might be a good fit for Graves's family. While her parents weren't interested, Graves took a tour of the space and ultimately decided to give it a shot despite the clutter." She has also been working as a model in Portland for the past year, so her mother runs the shop when she can't be there.
"I was kind of nervous because I'm on the younger side, but I had some money saved," she said. "I was like, you know what, if I lose all my money, it's whatever. But I've had a lot of fun doing it.... I've enjoyed meeting all the new people and learning about owning a business. It's been awesome. It was a little bit of a shock at first (when it) got thrown on me."
Despite not advertising much initially, the bookshop has been busy thanks to word of mouth within the community, her sisters helping put up posters, and posts on Facebook and Instagram. "I still have stuff I want to finish in here; I want to get a little sitting room back there and start planning for events," Graves said. "I haven't even got business cards yet."
She also wants to install a coffee bar in the next year and replace older shelves, and plans to remodel the kids' section of the store with shelves built to look like a castle. She also wants to host events in the near future.