We were lucky to catch up with Kate Snyder recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kate , appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

People are often shocked that I would open an independent bookstore during a pandemic…but Plaid Elephant Books probably wouldn’t have existed with the pandemic. I was working for an arts nonprofit when COVID shuttered the world. After a year of working remotely, I was restless and lonely. I could see how much other families with children, in particular, had been harmed by the loss of social connection we all felt during the pandemic.

COVID was a great time for soul-searching. I think we were all asking ourselves “what sort of world do we want to go back to?” And for me, I wanted to play a role in helping to rebuild the connections we had lost in our small town. I participated in a small business incubator program that challenged me to really listen to my community and to ground my business design in empathy. What were we missing? What did we value? What did we need?

The more I listened, the more I heard about the important role that reading and literacy played in the lives of our community members – regardless of their age. There are very few bookstores in Kentucky. The closest one to our town was forty-five minutes away. There was definitely a need for more convenient access to books.

As a mom of three, I was already passionate about children’s literature so it was an easy decision to focus my store on children’s books.

Kate , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a mother and an artist and a reader. Those three facets of my personality came together to form the reality of Plaid Elephant Books. I love teaching mosaic workshops for children and adults, and I take great joy in curating the selection of books that we stock at the shop. There is something wonderful about discovering a new book with a child. If we are lucky, our children will read throughout their lives because they love it. Because every new book is an adventure, filled with new friends and incredible discoveries.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

For me, the biggest secret of social media is authenticity. My customers feel like they know me through my social media posts. Long before Plaid Elephant Books opened to the public, I took care to craft a strong social media following, focusing my attention on Facebook and Instagram as those were the platforms used most by my potential customer base.

My favorite project before the launch was building up buzz around where the bookstore would be located. I teamed up with other small businesses in town for a series of social media posts wherein the businesses posted pictures of our shop logo (Penelope the Plaid Elephant) “searching” for a home downtown. We photoshopped her into restaurants and businesses and they shared those images. Then we also did a guerilla public art project involving chalked elephant footprints around town, leading to our location. We shared those on social media and built up a lot of interest that way.

Now that I’m open, I post consistently and try to vary my content so that it stays fresh and relevant. I get a lot of engagement on my posts and can regularly trace sales directly to that content.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

When designing my business plan, I wanted to incorporate both art and bookselling, which aren’t necessarily natural partners. But my background was in both and I wasn’t willing to leave my artist ‘side’ behind when I opened a brick and mortar bookstore. Working with a coach in the Small Business Administration who was herself an artist helped me to see that my art could be an important revenue stream to my bookstore.

I found a location that had room for a small art studio at the back of the shop and now teach workshops regularly. My art-making is still a fairly small revenue stream but it does account for about 10% of the store’s annual income. It provides important diversity so that I can offer different things to different people.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.plaidelephantbooks.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/plaidelephantbooksky
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/plaidelephantbooks
• Other: TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@plaidelephantbooks

Image Credits
Kat’s Eye Photography