A Bookshop of My Own: The Diary of Opening a Used Bookstore

Stef Tousignant
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What does it really take to open a used bookstore in 2026? Join me, Stef Tousignant, as I document the messy, inspiring, behind-the-scenes journey from the stacks of donated books in my office to the grand opening of The Phoenix Used Bookshop. This is a diary-style podcast — raw voice memos, real decisions, setbacks and small victories — for anyone who’s ever dreamed of owning a bookstore but wondered what it’s really like.

  1. 17h ago

    The Room Within a Room

    Stef has three second-location options in motion: one nonprofit-dependent (long-term), one with owners on vacation (on hold), and one in a shopping center (actively pursuing). The shopping center spot is 500 square feet—small, but workable because of a design concept she discovered visiting River Bend Books in West Hartford, Connecticut. At River Bend, she noticed their genius: a room within a room. They created an intimate event space inside their small bookstore. Stef is applying this to her floor plan using double-sided bookshelves as walls—doubling capacity, creating specialty zones (history, nonfiction) around the perimeter, and leaving the inner room for fiction and high-demand titles with moveable tables for events. The foot traffic at this shopping center location is solid, which matters more than she realized. Walk-by customers create a baseline of curious shoppers. The numbers work, but it's a 2-year lease—more risk than her Larkspur space. On hiring: she found a high school senior taking community college classes for afternoon shifts. Still recruiting for mornings. Plus, she needs someone for 2-3 days/week to do backend book processing—sorting donations, prepping inventory for nonprofit book sales, different skill set than retail. Storage is full. Books are in her garage. The second location can't come soon enough. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Submit a book request Ethan Joella - fiction author, new book: The Top of the World River Bend Bookshop West Hartford CT

  2. Jul 23

    The Plateau

    Opening a used bookstore: Stef's Instagram is plateaued at 1,000 followers despite press coverage, and she realizes the problem isn't the plateau—it's that she's underplaying her wins and not talking about half of what she's actually doing. - I have strong podcast downloads, but Instagram is stuck at 1,000 followers. Press coverage didn't move the needle. What actually works? Collabs and influencers. But the real issue: I've been underplaying everything. I set marketing on the back burner, thinking podcast and newsletter are running, then forget it needs constant care. I'm doing things—community review bookmarks (Penn-funded!), events, strategy—but I barely talk about them. What I'm Doing: Reuse Fair book swap (August) Phoenix En Plein Air book club (August 11) Typewriter event with Social Club (September—parents writing love letters on typewriters + books) Haters Club for teens (pick a book you'd hate, read it, discuss) Miller Nights tabling (maybe, building email list with a voting activation) The Bags Mistake: I ordered custom bags and they arrived 22 inches tall—perfect for picture books, terrible for the store. First real mess-up. Moving on. The Insight: I run multiple businesses, got a master's in Applied Positive Psychology, have 20 years of experience, and I'm breaking even in months 1-3. But I underplay it all. A typical business takes one win and markets it for 6 months. I do five things and mention none of them. The Fix: Longer-format social videos—2 minutes instead of 10 seconds. Tell the story of why things matter. Stop underplaying. The real message: little things every day push the business forward. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ It's not the plateau. It's the story I forgot to tell.  Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Miller Nights event Phoenix En Plein Air Submit a book request

  3. Jul 17

    The First Vacation

    Opening a used bookstore: Stef takes a working vacation—bookstore hopping in Connecticut to study how other indie bookstores operate, what platforms they use, and what works (and doesn't) in their models. - I'm in Connecticut for a family vacation at Lake Candlewood, but I couldn't resist taking a day to visit used bookstores in the area for a little research and learning. The Rainy Day Paperback Exchange (Bethel): A quirky used bookstore in a house—jam-packed with books on floors, in bags, everywhere. Not how I set up my store, but how people expect used bookstores to look. Organized by theme and author, but books are stacked flat (easier to read titles, harder to replace if you pull from the bottom). The owner was incredibly generous with her time and gave me a master class in back-end systems. She uses specialized inventory software that most independent bookstores rely on, then lists on Biblio for online sales. She pushed me toward the Association of American Booksellers—yes, it's expensive, but it unlocks things which generate "significant revenue" she said. Literally worth the membership every year. Byrd Books (Bethel): Small, curated, beautiful. Three book clubs (sci-fi, romance, nonfiction). They do Book & Movie nights—discuss the book first half hour, watch the movie the rest. (Mental note: The Lark theater in Larkspur could do this.) The Booksmith (Danbury): A huge bookstore disguised as a new bookstore with lots of gifts, tucked inside a conference center in a condo development. Confusing location, but it works as a community hub. Mixed new and used books with confusing labeling (at first), but once decoded: everything's used except items marked "new." Enormous children's section, space for events, low prices. The trade-off: to keep prices that low, you need either rock-bottom rent (like me, tiny store) or a weird location (like her, middle of nowhere) that still pulls people via word-of-mouth and low prices. She's not discoverable organically—you have to know to find her. I'm trying to find the middle: discoverable + good prices + used books only. Key Learnings: Association of American Booksellers membership unlocks major revenue streams. Online is where the money is—if I start building that wing, I can boost revenue significantly and hire full-time help. Trade-offs are real—low prices require either low rent OR high online volume OR a unique location draw. I could get an Ingram account, but I prefer finding existing used copies for customer requests. No new books made in the process. I also found several books from my Larkspur request list while bookstore hopping. Buying used copies here and selling them there—that's the model working as intended. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ (plus several new ones I'm cramming into suitcases to get home) Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Association of American Booksellers LibroFM Bookshop.org Biblio The Rainy Day Paperback Exchange The Booksmith Submit a book request

  4. Jul 9

    The Decisions Ahead

    Opening a used bookstore: Two and a half months in, and Stef's already hunting for a second space. She's rotating inventory strategically, designing a charitable book sale model with nonprofits, correcting the record on her credentials, and taking her first family vacation since opening. I'm wrestling with a question to start out the episode: Is this normal? Do people open a store and then two months later start looking for another one? Probably not. But the Larkspur store is doing so well, and if I can hire the right people, it can run without me present. The complications I'm managing now aren't the store itself—it's the contributions. They're overwhelming. Mostly coming in on Wednesdays (our slowest day, which is great). If I open another location nearby, I can distribute the donation load and relieve some of that pressure. Inventory Strategy: I'm rotating genres monthly—sometimes twice a month for middle readers because I have SO many. I pull books from shelves that have had their moment, keep the popular series (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Man), and rotate in fresh titles. It keeps the store feeling alive and gives books second chances. The Charitable Model: Here's what I've been thinking: quarterly $2 book sales benefiting local nonprofits. I run the book swap (already doing them with the Reuse Alliance—next one August 15th in Bryn Mawr). They get 90% of proceeds, I take 10% for storage. Better yet: if they have warehouse or property space, they give me storage in exchange for running the sale. Win-win.  The Marin IJ Article: It dropped Sunday in the feature section—front page of local news. Photo of me stocking shelves. Overall happy with it, but there's an important correction: the article said I have a Master's in Psychology. I don't. I have a Master's in Applied Positive Psychology—the science of well-being. That's a critical distinction. I'm not a clinician. I don't work with mental illness or deficit psychology. I work with thriving, gratitude, community mattering, and engagement. They also left in all the "ums" and "likes" in my quotes, which was weird. Phoenix En Plein Air: Officially launched! Good signup for the book club. First meeting August 11. Tartufo by KIra Jane Buxton. If you want to join but live elsewhere (Portland? anywhere?), I'll mail you the book for $20 and you can send questions for the discussion. Community is location-flexible. The Pause: I'm closing July 12-18 for a family vacation to Connecticut. My family needed this. I'm nervous about the hit to the bottom line, but since I'm already closed Mondays and Tuesdays, I'm only really closed four days. It should be okay. Store Upgrades: New shelving in the back room (the metro shelves weren't working), new wallpaper on the back wall. Spending a tiny bit of money to invest in the space feels right. The community loves this store—parents, grandparents, nannies. It's thriving. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ (and still arriving) Two months in and already thinking expansion. That's either genius or insane. We'll find out. 🐦‍🔥 Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Phoenix En Plein Air book club (August 11, Tartufo) Reuse Alliance Book Swap (August 15, Marin City) Marin Independent Journal article Submit a book request.

  5. Jun 25

    The Interview

    Opening a used bookstore: Stef sits down with Marin Independent Journal for a complete interview covering all the questions anyone would want to know the answers to! In this episode, you get a different format: an interview. Fly-on-the-wall POV as Marin IJ asks the questions that have probably been on your mind since Episode 1. How did this actually happen? What were the biggest obstacles? What's next? How does the mission work in practice? All of it. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ Sometimes the story is best told by answering the questions directly.  Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Marin Independent Journal Submit a book request

  6. Jun 18

    The Threshold

    Opening a used bookstore: Stef faces the hiring question—why it makes her uncomfortable, why waiting will trap her in the business for years, why systems matter now more than ever, and why she's terrified that she IS the success variable. I'm at a threshold. Hiring now versus later isn't just a staffing question—it's a scaling question. If I don't hire soon, I'll get sucked into working in the business instead of on it. Three years will disappear, and the store won't grow beyond what one person can manage. But hiring makes me uncomfortable. Why? Control. The brand matters so much right now. I've built something intentional, and I'm scared that if I'm not doing it myself, it won't stay true. I talk about trial and error—what works for one staff member won't work for another. Training takes time and money that feels like sunk costs while I'm still learning. But that's the work. Game meets game: I went to Sunsets thrift shop and met two guys in their 20s who are killing it—already selling on WhatNot in addition to their brick and mortar. They offered me a crazy deal to share their seller network. I'm not excited about it yet, but it's a first baby step. And honestly, it's part of the hiring conversation too.  I'm using AI as a resource tool for onboarding—looking up state and federal regulations, building checklists, creating systems. But here's the real fear: What if the success variable is me? What if removing myself from the equation makes the whole thing collapse? That's the founder's trap. And I can feel it. I need MORE systems. Better ones. Systems that let other people execute the vision without me present. On a lighter note: Phoenix En Plein Air is officially launched. The community voted, and our first book is Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton - Funny, literary, community-focused. Perfect. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ Time to build systems, not just a business. 🐦‍🔥 Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Phoenix En Plein Air book club (next read: Tartufo) Phoenix on Whatnot Sunsets Thrift Shop Submit a book request

  7. Jun 13

    The Pandemic Backstory

    Opening a used bookstore: Stef shares her pandemic backstory—everyone has one. Hers led from journaling to gratitude research to a master's program to a quantitative research project that's now calling her back, even as the bookstore takes center stage. Everyone has a pandemic story. Mine starts with journaling—a simple practice that revealed something unexpected: gratitude was making a big difference in how I showed up each day. I started researching. Curious. Digging deeper. Eventually, I wrote a book during lockdown. That book led me to apply for a master's program in Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania—not just to formalize my ideas, but to see if that would help with the publishing trouble I was having.  In that program, I launched an actual quantitative research project on gratitude and parenting. Real data with real potential to contribute to how we understand parenting, gratitude, and resilience. And now, it's being neglected. The store comes first right now—it has to. But I can feel it calling to me. Saying: It's almost time to come back to this work. The bookstore felt like a calling too. And it is. But I'm realizing there are multiple callings, and some of them are in tension. The deeper work—the research, the writing, the contribution to the field—it's waiting. This episode is about honoring both. The pandemic taught me gratitude. That gratitude led me to study parenting. That study led me to open a bookstore to serve community. But the writing? That's the work I consider my true calling. The bookstore is a place to get started, but my writing is waiting patiently for me to come back to it! Current Book Count: ~15,000+ 🐦‍🔥 Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Parenting with Gratitude: parentingwithgratitude.com University of Pennsylvania Master's in Positive Psychology Submit a book request

  8. Jun 4

    The Network Effect

    Opening a used bookstore: Stef records in real time, early June 2026. She's learning her Wed-Sunday rhythm, launching provenance bookmarks, starting book buybacks, building community partnerships, and opening a new drop-off location in Sausalito. I cut it close this morning but recorded the pod almost in real time—we're up to date, and I'm sharing what's happening right now... Operations & Platform: I'm not an affiliate, but I love the Square platform. I just set up payroll on it to stay tax-compliant and avoid trouble later. It's one less thing to worry about. Community Presence: I attended the Larkspur City Council meeting last night—listened and contributed to the debate on piloting a farmers market downtown. I had to leave before the vote (exhaustion is real), but being in the room mattered. This weekend, I'm tabling at the Reuse Alliance's Reuse Fair in Corte Madera with my free book swap. Then Sunday is the Battle of the Bands in Piper Park here in Larkspur. Both are great local starts for tabling and marketing. Work-Life Balance: I'm noticing just how weird my Wed-Sunday work week is. I'm making adjustments to communications and protecting Monday and Tuesday for rest—otherwise I'll burn out. This has to be sustainable. Book Buyback Program: Started this week. It's nice—people bring in good quality books and get store credit. I prefer contributions (keeps prices affordable), but I'm happy to say yes to people when they bring in awesome books. Provenance Bookmarks: I'm rolling out my new provenance tracking bookmarks—inserting them into books to track their story. Books aren't commodities. They're connection devices that create community. Every book carries a network of stories that hold us together as humans. New Drop-Off Location: As of June, you can drop books at The Social Klub in Sausalito—a playspace for kids. If you're closer to Sausalito, feel free to use this location for the month.  Current Book Count: ~15,000+ Books build community. Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Book drop-off locations (including The Social Klub) Reuse Alliance Reuse Fair Corte Madera Battle of the Bands (Piper Park, Larkspur) Submit a book request

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What does it really take to open a used bookstore in 2026? Join me, Stef Tousignant, as I document the messy, inspiring, behind-the-scenes journey from the stacks of donated books in my office to the grand opening of The Phoenix Used Bookshop. This is a diary-style podcast — raw voice memos, real decisions, setbacks and small victories — for anyone who’s ever dreamed of owning a bookstore but wondered what it’s really like.

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