Midtown Magazine

“I made sure to get her blessing before we moved, that was so very important to me,” Poole says. “I went over to her house and she was in declining health. But she was very proud of the store and she said, ‘I love what you’ve done. I think it’s a great idea.’”

And Nancy Olson is a part of the new space.

“Nancy is in here in lots of different places. We brought with us some of the elements from the old store. The pictures in the bathrooms of the authors. The fireplace that people always sat around. We have a beautiful photograph of Nancy looking out over everything. And we’ve got some shelves with her favorite books, but we have to change them out because she had so many favorite books. It was important for us to bring that over here.”

One of the centerpiece traditions of Quail Ridge Books is the author events. Poole says on a recent month there was an author visit inside the store every single day, with two programs on some Saturdays.

“I love that we can personally meet with authors in a setting that is convenient and friendly,” says book lover Zeel Patel.

“Being able to get a signed copy of a book is an added bonus.”

Shop Local In a world full of online ordering and big box retailers, how does an independent bookseller thrive?

“In our bookstore and in other independents I’ve been in, midtownmag.com | 49