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

Karen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?

We as Independent Bookstore owners all have this in common is that the price of books is printed on the books. No other business have this. Grocery store, boutiques, hardware stores, etc. put the price on the shelf. We can’t sell books higher than what is printed on the books. We have to get books from distributers or publishers

Karen, 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?

I have worked with books my whole life so owning a bookstore was a great plan. I started out small and have made this bookstore a place of comfort and joy. Small town bookstores don’t always have the big issues that big city stores have but trying to stay competitive and deal with worldly issues is always a never ending process. We sell pasties ( a Michigan meat pie) Michigan products and Local Authors.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I started the bookstore in 2010, in 2013 my husband died with a rare illness. My life was turned upside down. I worked full time as a parapro with the schools and running a bookstore. I didn’t know if I wanted to keep the bookstore. Making changes in life and the bookstore is not an easy task but I made the bookstore a place of growth and a necessity in the community.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The love of books is a great start. The business side of this business is another thing. It is always a learning work in progress. What works for you and what doesn’t and make that change. Going to book workshops and belonging to book organizations help. Book owners are independent but we are great resources for ideas and answers. We are a group of people who are always there to help each other out. Stormy the Dalmatian bookstore dog recently died, she was apart of the bookstore as much as me and the books. It is very hard but I will get through this with maybe another dalmatian to greet customers and our store mascot.

Contact Info:

• Website: fentonsopenbook.com
• Instagram: Fentons Open Book
• Facebook: Fentons Open Book
• Linkedin: Karen Piacentini