We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vanessa Garabedian. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vanessa below.

Vanessa , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I have always loved to read since I was a child and during the COVID 19 pandemic, the desire to continue to read was magnetized. My partner and I read nearly everything we could get our hands on and vastly grew our home library. We started making our own resin bookmarks and page holders (also known as book spreaders/holders) to complement our reading experience and thus the seed of Bookish bookstore was planted. We had noticed that there weren’t really products available to hold your books open that wasn’t a device, so we solved the problem by making our own line of page holders. We continued to grow our library and make our reading accessories and found a brick-and-mortar location in June 2021 after nearly a month of searching via cold calling and driving around town. We chose our location at the edge of Fresno’s historic tower district because we love tower and frequent it often, enjoy participating in tower events, encourage people to visit tower and tell their friends, and some of our favorite bars, restaurants, and retail shops are in the heart of tower district. Lots of blood, sweat, and tears went into renovating our physical location over a 4 month span in the heat of Fresno summer with our own capital and we finally opened in November of 2021. Our inventory only included a small kid’s corner, a few classics, some coffee table books, and a few reading accessories. Family and friends supported Bookish from inception and our store has grown to nearly the whole shop full of books. We now have 19 central valley authors showcasing their books at Bookish, a variety of handmade items made by myself including bookmarks, mugs, shirts, and page holders, & we try to host at least one community centered event per month. In terms of pricing, we wanted to make sure purchasing books was affordable and remains affordable to the public, so most books are just $5, with some being more if they are newer or cheaper if on sale. We strive to be a pillar for the community by offering a relaxing environment to rest your head, read a book, have a conversation with a stranger, accept book donations so your books get cycled back into the community, and fill free libraries in our neighborhood at least monthly to share the love of reading with others. And lastly, we are the only bookstore in town that not only makes their own page holders and bookmarks but offers them at a great price for the public in our retail space. Not only do we sell books & fun accessories for reading, we also are the only bookstore in fresno,ca with a tattoo shop located inside and drip coffee will be available for purchase in near future as well.

Did we know if we would be successful? Absolutely not and it was a huge gamble we were willing to take. Coming from a family of self-employed parents & extended family members I have always wanted to be my own boss, which gives me the flexibility to be more present with my partner, our daughter, and our fur babies.

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

My name is Vanessa, and I am a Fresno born and raised native. I am Armenian American, identify as she/her, and love to meet new people, especially at my bookstore at the edge of tower in Fresno, CA. My partner and I recently had a baby girl, and we strive to be family & pet friendly at our bookstore.

What makes our shop unique is the aesthetic of an old-timey feel bookstore with thrifted bookshelves & vinyl records, coffee shop music playing, hanging books on the ceiling, hidden crevices of unique books, a wide variety of reading literature and most importantly welcoming space to all with a chill vibe.

We host a monthly book club that is always open to new members. Our monthly meetings will resume again in February and all the information about our book clubs can be found on our Instagram: bookish520.

Most of our books are used and most are priced at just $5 with some being more depending if they are newer or new. We have the ability to pre order books as well or you can shop from your home and support us the following ways as well:
bookshop.org/shop/bookish520 (physical books)
libro.fm/bookishfresno (audible books)
We currently host 19 central valley authors and prints by a local tattoo artist here at Bookish and more will be added in near future.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

The idea of Bookish grew from not only growing our own home library but also making our own reading accessories such as bookmarks and page holders. We loved the durability of the resin bookmarks and page holders over wood and cement, so we stayed with the resin product line. These products are made in our own garage as well as our handcrafted concrete paperweights and bookends. We do offer ceramic sublimated mugs laminated bookmarks, metal bookmarks, shirts, and tote bags that are all made in store by myself and my partner (and our weekend helper!) We have definitely learned a few lessons along the way in terms of how to be resourceful and not wasteful, how to price our handmade items appropriately and competitively, how to recommend books without coming off as a pushy salesperson, and how to connect with the community over books. We take pride in our handmade & locally sourced reading accessories that are produced by myself and our weekend helper, love to continually connect with others over literature , and share the love of reading one page at a time.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When we acquired a physical location for Bookish, we exhausted most of our disposable income & some of our savings to help fund the renovations needed, such as paint, plumbing, electricity, flooring, and inventory. Once we opened, we funded future renovations through product & book sales, vender markets, book club purchases, and book donations, which translated into shop sales.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/bookish_520
• Instagram: htttps://www.instagram.com/bookish520
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075919423660&mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Yelp: htts://www.yelp.com/bookish

Image Credits

some of the images were taken by our photographer friend @madsfilmscrapbook and the rest of the images were taken by myself and my partner