Burke’s Bookstore is quiet as late-afternoon customers browse the shelves crowded with new and used books. Music plays in the background as store employee Mike Larrivee stacks up piles of books on the counters.
Nestled at the corner of Poplar and Evergreen in Midtown, the old store’s atmosphere is relaxed, as it usually is. Next Thursday, however, at least 200 people will crowd into this store — one of Memphis’s oldest establishments — and wait patiently in line.
Why? John Grisham is coming.
He’s coming to sign his latest book The Summons just as he has come to sign every other book he has published.
Grisham signs at only six bookstores each time a new release is printed.
“He only signs at those stores that sold his first book, A Time to Kill, which he was literally selling out of the trunk of his car when it was first published,” said Corey Mesler, owner of Burke’s. “It’s just simply that. He’s loyal.”
Grisham’s loyalty has proven to be somewhat of a lifesaver for some bookstores as the economy has slowed and businesses have had to struggle to make ends meet.
“We had some lean months, but then John Grisham published a Christmas book,” Mesler said.
Along with Grisham’s book sales, which repeatedly reach the thousands, Christmas and textbook sales have always helped to keep the bookstore thriving.
“We would be struggling without those, but we do have a core business that is pretty regular,” Mesler said.
That core includes customers in their 70s and 80s who visit the store and recall when they bought all of their school textbooks from Burke’s.
Built originally on Main Street and established in 1875, the store housed the Burke family above it, and the son of the original owner was born there, according to Mesler.
After three generations of Burke’s management, the family sold the business and the new owner moved it to Midtown.
“It was in the middle of all these pawn shops on Poplar,” Mesler said.
The next owner, Harriet Beeson, moved the store to a nicer location and eventually sold the business to Mesler two years ago. He doesn’t think the store has changed very much since he and his wife, Cheryl, took over. He had worked there since 1988, and Cheryl joined the staff in 1990.
“I like to keep everything loose. If your employees are nice and loose, the customers think it’s a nice place,” Mesler said.
Many Memphians — at least in Midtown — seem to agree with him. Several years ago, Burke’s, which is proudly an independent bookstore, was threatened with near-extinction.
Barnes & Noble, a national bookstore chain, had offered to buy Ingram Book Company, the publisher of many of the books carried by Burke’s and other independent bookstores.
Ingram was considering the offer, which meant that if the company was sold, Mesler would be buying books from his competitor.
“It would be like Burger King having to go to McDonald’s to buy their French fries,” Mesler said.
Fortunately, other independent bookstores were also outraged, and the American Booksellers Association circulated petitions claiming the buyout was a violation of anti-trust laws.
The case went to Congress and, according to Mesler, the American Booksellers were about to win when Barnes & Noble withdrew their offer.
A banner hung in the front window of Burke’s for months exclaiming: “Thank you for helping us stop Barnes & Noble” in huge black letters.
For now, the little store is selling its new and used books, all mixed up together on the shelves, without the imminent danger of being run out of business by a chain.
Mesler said that one of the ways he thinks the bookstore is unique is the fact that it carries so many used books. A rarity in the United States, Burke’s not only sells used books, but they are also mingled with new books in every section.
“I like to take a chance on some things. Once you buy used books, you can’t sell them back, so you’d better make sure you can sell them,” Mesler said. “The mix is so exciting because you never know what’s there.”
The bookstore’s website, www.burkesbooks.com, gives information about the staff, signings, as well as their online newsletter.
