We recently connected with Lori Carroll and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lori thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I’ve never considered the paths I’ve taken as taking a risk until later when retelling the story to someone and hearing their response. For me, fear has never been much of a factor in my life or decisions so I tend to take risks that other deem too scary.

For instance…buying a used bookstore on a whim. The story goes like this. My love for reading started when I was 18 and I dived in hard. The first bookstore I worked at I got the job just because I would spend time between college classes organizing their sections. Jump ahead a few years and I move to Portland where I know no one (a story for another time). In my effort to find friends I joined a romance book club at Borders. Over the next decade I made numerous friends, became a reviewer for Regency romance, helped out at several local bookstores with events and marketing, and just made a general nuisance of myself until they had to be friends with me.

One of my favorite bookstores was looking for a buyer for 2 years so the owner could retire. I spent 2 years trying to convince all of my friends to buy it…never considering I could. I hit a wall in the corporation I was working for and knew I couldn’t continue there and stay happy. So I decided I was going to quit. One day in March of 2018 I swung into Jan’s Paperbacks to visit with the owner and told her I was going to quit my job. She asked what I was planning on doing after that and I told her I had no idea. She said, “Why don’t you buy the bookstore?” My response was simply, “Why don’t I?” And that was pretty much that. By August of that year, I was the proud owner of not just a bookstore, but a legacy that began a year before I was born.

At no point in the process of buying the bookstore did it occur to me that I was doing anything risky. For me, the absolute worst thing that could happen was that the bookstore wouldn’t make it and I would be sitting exactly where I was sitting before buying it.

I just hit five years with the bookstore and it has been such a wild ride. I don’t regret a single moment, even though there have been tough times, the community that we’ve built here has been amazing. And still, I know that if the worst were to happen, the time I spent owning the bookstore will have been invaluable.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

When I bought the bookstore one of the most important things I wanted to do was create a community space where people felt comfortable just being. Where everyone felt accepted and safe. It’s been a unique journey in creating that space because there’s the before pandemic time, the during pandemic time and the after pandemic time.

Before pandemic time, we had a drink cart where I had free coffee, tea or hot chocolate available. The coffee was brewed every day from coffee that was gifted to me. I would post every day on social media what the coffee was, where it came from and who gifted it to me. Which meant that more and more people would bring me bags of coffee as gifts. Even if they never took advantage of the cart, it made people realize that we just wanted them to feel comfortable and relaxed coming through the store. We had a couple of wing chairs set up at the front of the store so people could come in and visit. More often than not you would find a group of people sitting upfront chatting. Customers got to know other customers, coming to visit for hours at a time.

When we first moved to the neighborhood I spent a lot of time getting to know the other businesses in Downtown and sharing that information on social media. I became the unofficial chamber of Downtown Beaverton on my social media platforms so people know they could find new places to eat and visit by following me.

Then Covid hit and everything changed. The store got really lucky and was able to stay open, but I felt a great responsibility knowing a good amount of our customers were 65 plus. Since we didn’t know how the disease passed, I did everything I knew to protect against every possible way of passing diseases. It was a lot. That gave people the ability to feel safe to shop. Boy did people need some activity outside the home. Not only did the store provide entertainment through books and puzzles, but I provided a social outlet where they could leave their four walls, go into a space and feel comfortable. The store ended up on the news a few times because for a short period of time we were the only store open for browsing in the state of Oregon. People drove from 3 hours away just to come to our bookstore. There were days where we had a line for 4 hours of people waiting an hour or so just to browse. Also, not just to browse. People need people to survive. At the time I didn’t know how important the store and I became to people’s mental health.

I worked with the other businesses in Downtown Beaverton to create social media events that people could tune in to and learn about the people behind the business. It helped strengthen the community of business owners, but also helped people get to know what was going on without having to walk around themselves.

A skillset that I have that I never knew I would need in life, is recognizing patterns. As in, if someone likes this book they might also like these books. While in the midst of covid, I was helping people pick out books a lot. People realized they really liked having a curated list just for them.

After all of that, we arrived in after pandemic times. The store has combined the initial energy of a community space where people are made to feel welcome and accepted, but also they now have the memory of a time when the store helped them feel safe. They know that I can recommend books to them that they will love and that I will let them know if I don’t think they will like a book before they spend money on it. They know they can come to me to find out what opportunities are in the neighborhood for events, food, shopping. It’s a very rare day that I go without a customer coming through that has become a friend. It’s become everything I wanted it to be and more.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

In this society we are being sold goods and services constantly, with little to no regard to consequences. With books specifically, people like to recommend books they enjoyed with very little regard to what books the person likes to read. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves when I hear someone ask for a book their friend recommended that I know they won’t enjoy. When I discuss a book with someone I point out the details of the book, not whether I liked it or not. For example, if someone likes world building over character development, a romantic comedy would be the worst recommendation for them.

I believe that overall people genuinely appreciate that I give them the honest truth and not just focus on selling them something regardless.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The absolute best source has been and will always be word of mouth. Our customers are committed when it comes to sharing the bookstore with their friends and family. It’s that concept of community again. When people that love this store are out and about in the world, they aren’t sharing their favorite bookstore really, they are sharing their fun spot. They tell them about how fun I am, or that they always meet dogs in the store or about the artists we carry. It’s never just a bookstore when they talk about us, it’s an experience.

When people are sent here by their friends, they aren’t coming because they are just trying to find a book to buy. You can do that anywhere; grocery stores, Target, online. They come here to join in the community that they’ve only heard about so far.

Contact Info:

• Website: janspaperbacks.com
• Instagram: jansbeaverton
• Facebook: janspaperbacks
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jans-beaverton-2
• Other: Please make sure when naming the business, the name is Jan’s. People like to add words when writing things up about the store.

Image Credits
Michelle Bauer Photography. David England Photography. Brian Parker with Believe in Wonder Publishing.