{"id":13565,"date":"2018-03-27T09:07:37","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T13:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beverly-hanks.com\/blog\/?p=13565"},"modified":"2018-03-27T09:07:37","modified_gmt":"2018-03-27T13:07:37","slug":"malaprops-bookstore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/malaprops-bookstore\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning the Page: Malaprop\u2019s Bookstore & Caf\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Turning
\nTucked away in the vast aisles and shelves of Malaprop\u2019s Bookstore & Cafe\u0301<\/a> in downtown Asheville is the 35-year history of a business that remains a vital economic and social beacon for a city that\u2019s evolved exponentially over the last few decades.
\n\u201cWe do feel like we\u2019re an important part of the community. And we\u2019re always looking for new ways to keep reaching deeper into the community around us. We don\u2019t take for granted being here for 35 years,\u201d said Melanie McNair, director of marketing for Malaprop\u2019s.
\nOriginally from Asheville, McNair has always known the beloved bookstore. It\u2019s a place as unique and welcoming as those who peruse its selection and who work behind the counter.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re bibliophiles, and we share that real love of books with our customers,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to separate the independent spirit of Asheville from Malaprop\u2019s. The bookstore was such a cornerstone of the development of the city and what we\u2019re seeing here. People love it here so much because of the independent business owners, and that spirit draws people here. And there\u2019s something about having a bookstore filled with creative and independent people that makes people feel safe.\u201d
\nThe future of independent bookstores was uncertain at the turn of the 21st century because of online shopping and big box retailers. But McNair sees the tide changing in the favor of that cozy, locally-owned shop just around the corner.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s actually a good time to be a bookstore,\u201d she said. \u201cIndependent bookstores are on the rise again, with more stores being opened than ever before. And physical book sales are back up. People are craving connections with other human beings and connections with physical objects because we\u2019re so plugged in with our digital devices.\u201d
\n <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe\u2019re bibliophiles, and we share that real love of books with our customers. It\u2019s hard to separate the independent spirit of Asheville from Malaprop\u2019s.\u201d \u2014Melanie McNair, director of marketing at Malaprop\u2019s<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 
\nAnd McNair noted Malaprop\u2019s has one thing wholesalers don\u2019t.
\n\u201cWhat we do is something that they can\u2019t do\u2014customer service,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd for a lot of us here, the fact that Malaprop\u2019s is such an important part of the community is one of the reasons why it\u2019s so important for us to work here. It\u2019s why we love working here and why we have such a deep appreciation for the place.\u201d
\nBeyond the city limits, Malaprop\u2019s is nationally recognized for its readings by bestselling authors and stocking its shelves with some of the finest literature from near and far.
\n\u201cIn the national landscape of bookstores, Malaprop\u2019s is known,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, when we go to trade shows and conferences, it\u2019s really fun to find out what Malaprop\u2019s means to booksellers, authors, and other store owners who don\u2019t live here.\u201d
\nThough McNair was born and raised in Asheville, she did leave for a period, only to return to her hometown, truly appreciative of what this city\u2014and the bookstore\u2014has to offer.
\n\u201cWhat brought me back was the natural beauty of the area, as well as the funky vibe that we have retained as the city has grown. We\u2019re a beacon across the South,\u201d she said. And as for the bookstore, \u201cI think we\u2019ll hopefully continue to grow as a hub for great literature, nationally and locally. This is a great book town.\u201d
\n 
\nThis post is adapted from our annual <\/i>Welcome to Western North Carolina magazine.<\/i> Click here<\/i><\/a> to read more online, or<\/i> click here<\/i><\/a> to order your own free copy.<\/i>
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tucked away in the vast aisles and shelves of Malaprop\u2019s Bookstore & Cafe\u0301 in downtown Asheville is the 35-year history of a business that remains a vital economic and social beacon for a city that\u2019s evolved exponentially over the last few decades. \u201cWe do feel like we\u2019re an important part of the community. And we\u2019re… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,2],"tags":[12,3,95,7],"class_list":["post-13565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buy-local","category-commercial","tag-asheville","tag-commercial","tag-welcome-magazine","tag-wnc-businesses"],"acf":[],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naibeverly-hanks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}