By Kerri Pepoy,Staff Writer
Books-N-Things will relocate; wants to be a fun place to hang out

OXFORD – For Erica Jed, a bookstore is about much more than, well, selling books. A bookstore should be an experience, one where customers are surrounded by ambience and coziness and a feeling that when they walk in, they know the staff has a special love for books.

“I’m trying to capture the people who want that experience,” said Jed, the owner of Books-N-Things in Oxford, on Tuesday. “I want this to be a local, fun place to hang out and keep people from heading out of town.”

Jed, a retired physician and book lover who lives in Norway, has owned the bookstore since early October. Early next year, she’ll relocate the business from Oxford to Main Street in Norway. She purchased the building in Norway shortly after she bought the bookstore and is excited to take her six employees with her when the business relocates.

She’d recently left a teaching job at Central Maine Community College and was looking for a new endeavor when she purchased Books-N-Things.

Main Street’s energy

“I was this close to selling my house and moving to a condo in Portland,” she said, holding her thumb and forefinger a half-inch apart. “This bookstore was for sale five or six years ago and I didn’t buy it then, because I thought local bookstores were coming to an end.”

This time around, she took the plunge, realizing there is still room in a community for a bookstore despite competition from large retailers and Internet shopping. “The Internet isn’t taking everything away,” she said.

Her decision to move the store to Norway wasn’t spurred by sluggish sales, but rather by a small-business climate on Main Street that appears to be on the upswing. “Business has been much better than I expected. It caused me to have a few second thoughts (about moving),” she said.

“I just love Main Street in Norway, and I think it’s just about to turn over. I think we need a different kind of bookstore in Norway,” she said.

Jed already sells flavored coffees, cookies and muffins at the Oxford store. She’ll offer the same items in Norway but hopes to expand the menu. “The five-year plan is to expand up with the cafe to the second floor,” she said. She also wants to put a deck on the back of the building.

A cozy fireplace

The Norway location will have the same comforts as the Oxford store, including background music and free wireless Internet connection, but cozy touches will be added, including a fireplace. The store also will continue to sell jazz, reggae and blues CDs, and stock a wide range of both new and used books. Jed can place special orders for customers who can’t find what they are looking for. “I’ve doubled or tripled the inventory since I bought the store,” she said.

The Norway store will have the same hours as the current location, 9 to 9 Monday through Saturday and 11 to 6 on Sunday.