Stef said no to the pop-up. Their businesses didn't mesh, and three months of treading water wasn't worth the distraction. She's learned this lesson before: when one opportunity falls through, a better one follows and the right second space will come.

Meanwhile, the Larkspur store is humming despite a closed restaurant and construction on the street—new customer traffic dipped, but repeat customers are solid. She's refocusing on what works: seasonal pivots (Halloween section testing well, holiday store planned for November), guerrilla marketing (postcards to local parents), and something she's been sitting on for months: online sales.

A first-edition Grapes of Wrath with dust jacket landed in her hands. The antiquarian bookstore friends told her it's listable and worth real money. That's when it clicked: she has a year's worth of boxed books—inventory as passive income if she can process it. She found a former bookstore owner (through Nextdoor) interested in listing books for a fair rate. That's revenue stream #3: brick-and-mortar, events (book clubs growing fast), and online!

She's launching Phoenix Noir (mysteries/thrillers) book club alongside expanding Phoenix En Plein Air. Details in the show notes.

Then came the moment. A customer brought in a hardcover copy of "One Morning in Maine" - her favorite childhood book, the one she read her own kids and left it for her. No sale, just a gift. That's when Stef understood why she does this 💛

Current Book Count: ~20,000+

Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com.

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• The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer
• Phoenix Noir Book Club
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