Hartsville’s Burry Bookstore still ‘really cool’
By Jim FaileThere’s a story they tell at Burry Bookstore about a customer from out of town who came in one day and announced he had come to see “the really cool bookstore in Hartsville.”
After nearly 38 years in business as one of the Pee Dee’s premier book dealers, Burry Bookstore in downtown Hartsville is meeting the challenges posed to independently owned bookstores by “big box” chains and competition from the Internet and is handling them just fine.
“One of the biggest challenges is the perception that you’ll get a better price and bigger selection in the larger stores,” said Emily Burry Phillips, owner of the store.
The Internet poses its own set of challenges, she said.
“Years ago, when Daddy first opened the store, and really through about the mid-’90s, there were not that many venues where you could go to buy books,” she said.
Well that has changed now, she said.
Phillips said she grew up working in the store her father, Hartsville business and civic leader Charles Burry, opened in 1972.
It’s a family affair
Phillips came back to Hartsville to work in the store in 1988 and bought it from her father in 1994. Mr. Burry, for whom Burry Park in downtown Hartsville is named, died in 1996.
Family is important at Burry Bookstore, Phillips said. It is a family-owned business that caters to families with books for all ages. For years, the store’s motto has been “A World of Books for Young and Old.”
Phillips said the store’s success stems from the emphasis she and her staff put on keeping the focus on the customer.
“We try to provide the services and knowledge they need, so that if someone comes in and they can’t find what they’re looking for, we know what they’re talking about and know where to go to get it or to get information for them,” she said.
Like walking into your home
The store has long enjoyed the benefits of a loyal customer base in Hartsville. “We know our customers,” Phillips said. “And they know us.”
“I want walking into this bookstore to be like walking into a home, into a place you enjoy being. I want people to feel welcomed and appreciated,” she said.
In addition to its wide selection of books in stock, the store can special order books and offers a large selection of greeting cards, CDs and assorted gift items.
Keeping her sales staff informed about recent trends and developments in the book business is critical to providing good customer service, she said.
Each day begins with a staff meeting with employees, Phillips said. They discuss upcoming events, new books, the previous day’s activities and whatever else is needed to make sure everyone is focused on the customers.
“I really make an effort to make sure everyone knows what’s going on,” Phillips said. “I keep my staff very informed. We keep our focus on the customer. I want to make their visit here a pleasant experience.”
Changing with the market
During the last couple of years as competition and the marketplace have changed, Phillips and her staff have begun offering events featuring published authors such as book signings and author luncheons.
The effort started small, and it was tough getting a foot in the door with most publishers, Phillips said.
At some point she made contact with a publicist from publisher Harper Collins. “He spent time talking with me and said he would consider adding Hartsville to his authors’ tours,” she said.
“Publishers want to sell books,” Phillips said. “Hartsville’s a small town, but it’s close to some bigger cities; it’s close to two Interstates. It’s easy to get to if an author’s in one of the bigger cities.”
The first such event took place in 2008. Attendance varies with the popularity of the author, she said. “It’s ranged from 18 to 75,” she said.
But the luncheons and meet and greets continue to grow and bring people into the store and give them a chance to meet published authors, an opportunity not readily available in many small towns.
In July 2009, the store hosted a ticketed luncheon for bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank at the Black Creek Arts Center. The event sold out.
The store hosted nine authors’ luncheons last year and has events planned for March, April, May, June and September, Phillips said.
In July, South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Heath Wentworth will visit all four of Darlington County’s public libraries for readings and will also visit Burry Bookstore, Phillips said.
Appreciate your treasure
The authors appreciate the experience and meeting their readers, Phillips said. The most recent visit was by South Carolina author and historian Doug Bostick. “He really enjoyed it and said he would love to come back,” Phillips said.
“We had a time when things weren’t quite so busy and we were talking and he made the comment, ‘You’ve really got a treasure here. I hope your community realizes that.’”
In fact, the authors’ events have helped spread the reputation of the store so that now publishers call Phillips to see if they can arrange a meet and greet for one of their authors, she said.
One of the biggest events of the year for the store is its Christmas Open House. “That’s huge. That is really a big night for us. A lot of work goes into that, but it really is a lot of fun,” Phillips said.
Reaching outside Hartsville
While the core of her customer base is local, Phillips said she increasingly sees customers coming from areas outside of Hartsville.
“We see people from Cheraw, Camden, Bennettsville, Bishopville, Florence. Really it’s just amazing. We even see larger groups come in from other areas. They come here as a group to eat or something and spend time shopping with us.”
“When people come here from out of town, they come in the store, and they are always very surprised. They’re surprised at how big the store is for one thing. We get so many compliments from people. That makes everything worthwhile. I want people to be surprised and awed when they walk in here. It’s a lot of hard work, but it really is a lot of fun.”
Phillips said one thing she wants to do in the near future is highlight and possibly expand the store’s section of children’s books.
The store also has a Web site,
http://www.burrybookstore.com, and within the past year has begun offering online sales, Phillips said.Phillips also makes use of social media to promote her business through Facebook, Twitter, a blog and constant contact e-mail that allows online registration for special events.
Boosting literacy
Last year the store partnered with Coker College to support the Chalok Literacy Project through which some 70 to 75 books were provided to English language students in Malaysia being taught by a Coker alum participating in a Fulbright grant program.
“We try to support the community with projects like that,” Phillips said. “I just want to make a difference in our community.”
The presence of a bookstore says a lot about the cultural life of a community, Phillips said.
“I’ve always said that one reason we’ve been successful is because of the culture of this area,” she said. “We’ve got Coker College, we’ve got the Governor’s School, Sonoco and other large businesses. Very few towns this size have that kind of literary and economic base. And that’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to be successful.”
Phillips said she appreciates the support her store gets from people in the Hartsville area. She said small independent businesses like hers will always rely on the support of the people they serve in their local communities.
“People have got to decide if they’re going to support local businesses,” she said. “Are you going to support that person who buys the high school yearbook ad, who supports the local softball team? That’s who supports your community.”
AT A GLANCE
WHAT: Burry Bookstore
ADDRESS: 130 W. Carolina Ave., Hartsville, SC 29550
ESTABLISHED: 1972
OWNER: Emily Burry Phillips
EMPLOYEES: Two full-time, three part-time, one to assist with special events
SPECIALTY: Books, greeting cards
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