Blue Griffin Books opens in Middleton

By Lawrence Powell

Spectator/NovaNewsNow.com



Jonathan Archibald is continually buoyed by the positive response he’s been getting since he opened a new chapter in his life and a book store in Middleton in mid-August where he sells used books, magazines, and a lot more.

“Customer response has been absolutely amazing,� said the owner of Blue Griffin Books on Commercial Street next to Valley Credit Union. “People were really excited about a book store opening.�

One woman stopped by the evening before he was set to open. Archibald was putting the finishing touches on setting up his displays.

“I told her I was opening the next morning,� Archibald said. “She said she’d be back the next day, and sure enough she was my first customer.�

As he talks to the newspaper last Thursday, a man comes in looking for music books – guitar tab, guitar lessons. Archibald shows him a selection and the man ends up leaving with three books. He could have gone elsewhere but he believes in shopping locally. And he’ll be back. And he’ll be back not just for books. He and Archibald struck up a friendly conversation about something they both have in common – Star Trek.

In fact it was Archibald’s passion for Star Trek that eventually led to Archibald opening Blue Griffin.

Archibald, from Berwick, studied economics at Acadia University and admits to bumming around ‘out west’ for a while before returning home to work in the computer business. He was the guy who could take your computer, clean it up, and get rid of all those viruses, worms, and Trojans. And he still has a keen interest in computers. In fact coffee, computers, and books are his three big interests.

But books won out. His Star Trek passion was so strong he found himself buying and selling the books to support his own hobby. He was no stranger to e-bay. One day he bought a bunch of books at an auction, turned around and sold them, and made a bit of money.

“I thought to myself, ‘I’d like to do this full time,’� he said.

Blue Griffin Books has been about two years in the making, and Archibald (admittedly not a carpenter) set to work building shelves on which to display his huge stock of books, magazines, VHS movies, and games. (“I’ve had a lot of requests for Play Station games,� he said.)

While his inventory was considerable, he may not have been prepared for the voracious readers in the Middleton area. Books were flying off the shelves from Day 1, and what people were buying wasn’t necessarily what he thought would sell. Poetry and classic literature were being snapped up – by young people. Jane Austin and Herman Hesse were selling fast. And religion has been popular as have been children’s books and books for young adults.

Fortunately, as the books were going out the door, customers were bringing in bags and boxes of books from their own collections and receiving credit to purchase yet more books from Archibald. And he has his own sources for books as well. Now he’s hit a sort of equilibrium – not over-stocked and not too many empty spots on the shelves. Although Thursday he took a big hit on L.M. Montgomery books and The Little House on the Prairie series.

And science fiction and fantasy books are major sellers.

A woman came in recently with eight boxes of books plus a few backs. She backed her vehicle up to the loading dock and Archibald was in heaven. She received a considerable sum in credit and he ended up with a lot of books he knew people wanted.

“It’s good to get stocked up for Christmas,� he said.

And he has a little bit of everything. He rhymes off the categories: general fiction, science fiction, mystery, true crime, western, war fiction, poetry, classic literature, crafts, gardening, cook books, politics, biography, religion, history, reference, and pocket romance.

A woman comes in looking for medical books. Archibald shows her a selection, but what she wants isn’t there. If she was looking for something specific, he can add it to a growing list and try to find it for her. He’s done that for other customers. He’s found Harry Potter books, called the customer. “They were there 10 minutes later to pick it up.�

Archibald would love to combine a coffee shop with his boo store, but because of the configuration of space, that’s not likely to happen. However, computers is another thing, and by late spring or early summer he hopes to have a bank of computers across the back of the store set up for public use – limited web surfing and e-mailing capabilities. And in the back room, where he has lockable storage, he eventually wants to repair computers.

Archibald doesn’t know what effect a book store will have on literacy in the Middleton area, but he’s already sold books to adults wanting to learn to read – or read better. He holds up a stack of old elementary school readers he’s saving for a man who wants to become more literate. And he’s had parents looking for books to help their children get up to their grade level in reading.

He hopes he’s making a difference.

“People really seem to like it,� he said of Blue Griffin Books. “I’m getting the response that this is what Middleton really needs.�

Blue Griffin Books is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. On Thursday and Friday it’s open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. For now Archibald closes on Sundays but he said if there is any significant changes in shopping patterns since new provincial regulations came into effect, he may have to reconsider.