Thursday, February 12, 2009
Books
{The Blue Banner}
IqHdu ninixi . . Susan Terry - Staff Photoqrapher
IT, Battery Park Book Exchange supports a dog-friendly environment and accepts donations for local animal rescue
agencies. UNCA alum and Enka High School teacher, Stuart Annard browses books at Montford Books and More.
the Biltmore Estate, the assortment rep
resents the best of many regions known
for producing fine products, according to
Wright.
“We expect most of the reading and
buying to be during the day, and most of
the selling of wines and champagnes to
be at night,” he said
With Sante Wine Bar located just
Ground the comer, Wright’s store will not
only see retail competition in books but
m beverages as well.
“We sell a lot of still wine .or table
tvine,” he said. “The amount of cham
pagne and the amount of wine we have
almost equal, sparkling to flat wines.
Sut, we’re definitely in the wine business
^nd so are they.”
Taking credit for the novel idea of a
bookstore with a champagne bar, Wright
recognizes that in order to pay the rent
'n a downtown location, it helps to know
how to make use of competition and cre
ate a business with a distinction.
“To be in certain retail venues you
•teed to be able to take a look outside the
box, and everybody is selling books,” he
®aid. “In the book business you want to
find readers, people who have an inter
est and respect for books and that comes
'''ith the power of pricing,” he said. “At
^'ght, our champagne bar is going to be
Commodious, but sedate. It all helps add
'rp to make a bookstore viable.”
Wright plans on easing the store into
business so any kinks along the way can
be worked out. Officially, he hopes to be
cpenbyFeb.il.
“I have a lot more books than wine,
by a factor of tenfold,” he said. “So, I’m
®^Ways a bookstore that serves wine.”
Montford Books offers a home away
from home
Less than a half-mile away from Bat
tery Park Book Exchange, Kay Manly,
owner of Montford Books and More, of
fers readers a comfortable and warm set
ting in which to browse.
“Here, what we’re trying to do is have
a place for people to have a little retreat
from the outside world; it can be like a
second living room,” she said.
Opened since mid-January, Manly’s
new store utilizes the space that previ
ously housed The Reader’s Comer. She
purchased the business in December.
“With the recession, it’s a bit of a risk,
but I think one thing that is most likely
tme is that each of the bookstores in the
Asheville area is a little bit unique, or has
something unique to offer,” Manly said.
Montford Books carries two floors
worth of titles, as well as vinyls, CDs
and DVDs.
“We know that Asheville and this area
is a place where there are a lot of readers,
which is different than some communi
ties,” Manly said. “But Asheville is a
reading community, so this gives people
a lot of choices.”
As the store progresses. Manly also
wants to carry local pottery and artwork
for sale.
“I think there is a lot of support in
this area for independent and small busi
nesses. There’s a lot of support from the
consumers,” she said.
In addition to Montford Books, Manly
works full-time at A-B Tech in the adult
education program. She admits seeing
some great changes affect the downtown
area in her 30 years in Asheville.
Manly believes Montford Books will
attract a wide variety of people because
of the quality and affordability her book
store offers.
She plans to have an official grand
opening on Valentine’s Day.
“It’s been interesting piecing together
things,” she said.
New book stores give back to the
community
One thing Montford Books and Bat
tery Park Book Exchange share are plans
to embrace the community in various
ways.
With 10 percent of all sales being
donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Western North Carolina, Manly’s offi
cial grand opening on Valentine’s Day is
scheduled to include door prizes, sweets
and hot cocoa.
In memory of a beloved pet, Book
Exchange, supporting a dog-friendly en
vironment, asks for contributions to lo
cal animal rescue agencies in return for a
small discount on purchases at the store,
accorditig to Wright.
“We will be asking people, if they’re
willing to make a contribution to some
of the areas Life Guards for dogs and
we will give them a discount in the book
store,” he said.
Since Wright’s store is located in the
historic Battery Park Hotel building, his
future plans include revisiting famous
authors of historic and literary relevance
to the Asheville area.
Page 13
Alarms
Continued from Page 9
Susan Terry - Staff Photographer
Fire alarms In Mills Hall are reported to
have been going off since 2007.
alarms.
“I understand the necessity for them,
but it’s pretty frustrating early in the
morning, especially when you hear it’s
just faulty equipment,” she said.
Students began taking issue with the
faulty fire alarms in Mills last semester.
At one point, SGA senator candidate
Austin Mack sent an e-mail to the entire
student body with the subject line, “Who
is PISSED about these alarms in Mills?”
Mack, a Founders resident, reported
he experienced excessive false alarms
during a trip to Mills.
“I was thinking,” Mack said. “If they
go off when not suppose (sic) to, will they
even go off when there is a real fire?”
“It s pretty frustrat- .
ing early in the morning,
especially when you hear
it’s just faulty equip
ment. “
— Rebecca Abide
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