Victoria Mier is the owner of The Spiral Bookcase, a bookstore that remains open online despite having a closed storefront due to the current pandemic. The Spiral Bookcase sells new and used titles along with various other items, all of which focus on the essence of spirituality and witchcraft. Mier’s goal is to continue to cultivate her community of booklovers despite the state of the world. She has shared with us how she is managing in this process as well as the role we can play as consumers to support her small business.
Madison Betts: Hello Victoria, thank you so much for meeting with me today! To start off, what are your main responsibilities as the owner and head bookseller of The Spiral Bookcase? How have these responsibilities changed with the pandemic?
Victoria Mier: So, in terms of responsibilities, basically everything. All of the book buying, merchandising, social media, communications, customer care, sourcing used books, figuring out which nonbook items to carry, communicating with vendors, consigners, and the list goes on.
I would say the biggest way this has changed since the pandemic and the shutdown is really just doing all those things online in a virtual format. Particularly as an independent bookstore, to me, it has always been about knowing your book seller and having a person who can make you recommendations that knows you and knows what you read last, and that community feeling. Trying to transition that virtually, so people can still have access to that, and continue to bring joy and happiness… that connectedness to people during this time, that’s been difficult. Really difficult. But we’re trying.
MB: What does a typical day look like now for you?
VM: Everything used to revolve around opening the store and being in the store; now it’s about the order in which I want to do things. Typically, the first thing I’m doing is just checking in on emails, social media, voicemail, and all that. We get special order requests and recommendations for having virtual events so the email normally takes a little bit of time. Then it’s adding books to the website, whether that be new books that just came in, a shipment that I’m processing, or some of our used books that I’ve been sourcing off of the internet and picking up from customers’ houses. Dependent on the day, I’ll be packing all of the orders that are going out either for USPS or for local delivery.
MB: What sort of difficulties do you run into with how everything has changed since the start of the pandemic? What has gotten you through these complications?
VM: Our customers and community have by far gotten me through all of this. Just how much they still want to engage with us, and not even just in a “buying-sense,” but supporting us in general. I’m deeply appreciative of it. The fact that they still want to comment on our Instagram posts and want to see pictures of the storefront cat; they want to talk to us about their newest books, what just came out, or what recommendations I have. So, everyone’s continued enthusiasm in the store and in the community has been a blessing because the store is in my house right now. It’s just me sitting at my kitchen table, which has turned into a workspace, banging away at the keyboard. It is very easy to lose all that momentum you feel as an Indie bookseller, which is the people and the community that you’re servicing, which you are a part of. So, despite everything, that has actually been great since we are still able to engage with our community virtually.
MB: I saw on your website that you had a move for your storefront in August. How has that transition on top of everything else been? Where are you currently situated?
VM: It’s going fine overall. I find I can’t complain. We’re getting to move to Main Street. We were in Manayunk before. That will be fun when it is safe to open. But, handling the situation where your building is being sold in the middle of a pandemic is just another “fun” thing to traverse. It was one of those things where we were looking to move to Main Street for a larger space anyway, just timing is always rough when you add another obstacle into the plot.
MB: I also noticed that you host online events, with the most recent one on January 30th. It seems that you’ve made a great transition to adapt to an online-based world. How many of these virtual events have you had? What has the experience been like?
VM: I haven’t been doing a ton of them because it’s just me. There’s a lot of other great bookstores that do a ton of author events and that sort of thing, and we definitely do them, but we were always a four-events-a-month kind of place, so I’ve scaled back a little bit with that. I’m mostly doing the Moon Manifestations, which has honestly been great. Those have been no different since having them virtually and for some people it’s easier to actually make it as opposed to trying to come in person. This is especially true if you don’t live in Manayunk since we’re out here in the middle of nowhere, it feels like sometimes. So, it really hasn’t been that much of a change in terms of that event. I would like to have more author events but since I’m doing everything myself, it’s hard to add that onto my plate. Overall, it’s been a fairly easy transition. I was surprised by how easy that part was.
MB: How can the public meaningfully support stores like The Spiral Bookcase?
VM: I think with Indie bookstores it is largely about staying in contact with them. I know for a lot of customers, before the pandemic, their involvement was that they would visit when walking past us on the way home or they would come in every Saturday or Sunday when their family visited. They would have a day of the week that they would come by and though there are some bookstores that are open to browsing now, a lot of us still aren’t. So, I feel like the best way to support us is, if you’re on social media, follow people there and just check in. I have a couple customers that, every three months, check in with us via email and ask if I have any book recommendations. I think just staying in contact and keeping us as part of your community is the best thing that people can do right now. This is particularly true for those of us that are closed. Remember we exist.
The Spiral Bookcase will be opening on Main Street between Roxborough and Rector in the near future. In the meantime, customers can purchase a variety of books and spiritually oriented items on their website: https://spiralbookcase.com/
To stay connected, follow The Spiral Bookcase’s Instagram, which posts updates about new book arrivals, virtual events, and their storefront progress: https://www.instagram.com/spiralbookcase/?hl=en
Madison Betts is a junior at Drexel University pursuing a B.A. in English with a concentration in writing. When she isn’t buried in a book, she spends her time writing one, aiming to publish a series of her own. She also enjoys paddle boarding, yoga, and boxing.