We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cari Hamoui a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cari , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

Throughout my 8.5 years of working at Chamblin’s, one could say I have seen some things. Working at the downtown location specifically, I have a front row seat to all the urban core’s action. Many well known individuals have walked through our doors. Of course there has been some seedy characters and hostile customers as well. It would be too difficult to narrow down one specific event that has happened, so I’ll cover a few.

Positives:

-When I first started at Chamblin’s, I was a barista. One day the cafe was asked to do coffee catering for Bill Clinton and his posse, who was holding a voting rally at the Jacksonville Public Library downtown branch. I delivered the coffee through some hidden back doors and saw people from the Secret Service. That was pretty cool.

-We received a call from MTV asking if they could film in the bookstore for the TV show Catfish’s book promo. Nev and Max hung out with our staff and they had a blast.

-AEW Wrestling also called us and filmed a cool promo for the “Librarian,” in our bookstore and our staff got free tickets to see the show that night.

-I did a book signing tour with the former mayor of Jacksonville, Jake Godbold, shortly before his passing.

Negatives:

-When I came to work one day, I saw a houseless person laying outside on the corner of the street, which is not unusual. Several hours had passed and the individual had not moved. Sadly, the person did not survive. My heart is still heavy knowing they were so close to businesses and people, yet they died alone and nobody, including myself, realized it.

-The threats, all of the threats. There are a lot of unstable people roaming downtown, and some of them come inside looking to start a fight or be destructive. My life has been threatened a few times and I’ve been cursed here and there. The worst are when it comes from customers who seem completely normal. One time I couldn’t accept some books from a lady and I politely told her why. She proceeded to then SCREAM at me and had a full Karen meltdown. Funny thing is, she was there to buy the book “Jesus Calling.” Sounds like she reallyyy needed that book.

-PooPoo Picassos. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

Cari , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Cari Hamoui and I am a bookstore manager at Chamblin’s Uptown. I am a UNF alumna with degrees in International Relations and Spanish. When I’m not at work, I am with my fluffy chow chow being a reclusive homebody since I just bought my first house.

I first started with Chamblin’s as a barista and was hired by my friend who was the cafe manager at the time. My previous job was in a sweatshop, so I basically started and trained from the ground up. My hard work ethic, sensibility and customer service was recognized very early on. The general manager pulled me out of the cafe, gave me a raise, and told me that I was transferring to the bookstore side. This was completely unknown territory for me, but I was ready to make moves.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Chamblin’s, we are the largest used bookstore in North Florida. There are two locations; the main store Chamblin Bookmine (4551 Roosevelt Blvd) and Chamblin’s Uptown (215 N Laura St). I work at the Uptown store, which has a coffee shop attached to us. Chamblin’s specializes in selling, trading and buying used books. We’ve been doing it since 1976 and have accumulated millions of titles from the citizens of Jacksonville and beyond.
Although our main focus is used books, we also sell new or popular best sellers, DVD’s, Blu-Ray, CD’s, audiobooks, maps, vinyl, boards games, post cards, tee shirts, tote bags, stickers and more.

People love us because they need a good book to take home. We are the grassroots alternative to big online soul-sucking corporations. Our employees are real humans looking to share love and connection for knowledge, truth and escape with every customer who walks in. We are able help you find any book, whether it’s hard to find or out of print. Anyone who has ever stepped foot in Chamblin’s knows there’s no other place like it. Some people might feel lost, while others feel like they have found home. Either way, it leaves an impression.

I am proud to work for an institution that works so closely with the community. We wouldn’t be able to do it without the bold people of Jacksonville. From working alongside with Art Walk vendors and artisans, to hosting Blood Drives that have saved numerous lives, to donating books for Holocaust survivors. It feels humbling to be a small part of such a big city.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

Chamblin’s sells books, various forms of media and ephemera on our website. We constantly add new incoming items that are selected for the online market. There are many different reasons we sell items online, besides having another form of revenue. Some books are chosen because the price point is higher, or it is collectible and valuable. Or perhaps it is too niche and would have a better chance of being found online. We refuse to sell through big corporations and have been against it since day one. We have thousands of cool, weird and unique titles to browse through if you feel like virtual shopping.

https://www.chamblinbookmine.com

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Working downtown, I’ve encountered numerous belligerent and combative people. The cops rarely show up in time, and have not shown up on a *few* occasions. In order to get the person to leave, I would get loud and brash back. That tactic has very rarely worked and usually causes escalation. I’ve altered my conflict resolution for these situations and am much more calm and collected, even when I’m being triggered. I don’t let them know I’m upset. As Sun Tzu said, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chamblinbookmine.com
• Instagram: @chamblinsbooks
• Facebook: Chamblin Bookmine / Chamblin Uptown
• Youtube: https://www.yelp.com/biz/chamblins-uptown-jacksonville
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/chamblin-bookmine-jacksonville
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@chamblinsbooks

Image Credits
Pictures by Carly B. and Cari H.