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

Suzanne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

So we have a large sign saying Page 158 Books above our store. You would think people know that we deal in books. However, we have had people drop off coffee machines for us to fix. ( I did find the warranty for her) I had a woman come in during the pandemic and cut her hair. Someone wanted us to place a bid on his old porn magazines. The weirdest though was the lady who parked in front of the store who burst through the door asking if we were Bright Funeral Home. I thought to myself, poor woman is in grief let me help her. I said no but they are right around the corner I can give you directions. She said “Are you sure?” uhm yes. The deceased loved books but not that much.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have always loved books! I had started a book club 30 years ago and from that was asked to host a local TV series called Books and Authors outside Boston. It was so so fun that I wanted to continue it when we moved to NC. I started a program with the town and that led me to ordering books for the event from a local store. I mentioned to the owner that I would love to own my own store someday and he emailed me later asking if I wanted to take over! That was 8 years ago this July! I love every single day.

Have you ever had to pivot?

All we did was pivot the first few months of the pandemic! Our hours changed, we had to close the store to in person shopping and do delivery and curbside service. Essentially we became a warehouse for a few months. We eventually made it through and our sales were great throughout it and remain so now. We still do curbside and local delivery and have life long customers because of it.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I am 4th generation small business owner and am so proud of that fact. While not in the same business as my great grandfather, my grandfather and father I know that customer service plays a pivotal role in why people come to us. We are there to provide a service they can’t get anywhere else and we need to make customers lives easier. We remember people’s names, what type of books they like and have created a community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.page158books.com/
• Instagram: @page158books
• Facebook: @page158books
• Twitter: @page158books
• Youtube: @page158books
• Yelp: @page158books
• Other: Tik Tok. @page158books

Image Credits
Suzanne Lucey and Micheal Farris Smith