Inside Chester County Book and Music Co.

Twenty-seven years ago Kathy and Bob Simoneaux, owners of Chester County Book and Music Company (CCBMC) in West Chester, decided it was time to get out of New York City and open a business in a small town.

So the two left Manhattan to check out Margaret Alburn Bookseller, a small independently owned bookstore up for sale in West Chester. Margaret Alburn, formerly a Westtown School librarian, was ready to retire and move on.

They had no idea they would end up in Chester County.

“We saw Margaret’s advertisement, came to Chester County for the first time, and just fell in love with the area,” says Kathy Simoneaux.

The husband and wife team made three more visits before purchasing Alburn’s bookstore in 1982. This was long before independent bookstores were threatened to become anecdotes of the past, and before the invasion of big-box stores, megachain emporiums and point-and-click Internet shopping.

Still, even today, this local establishment continues to offer bibliophiles great resources in a rich environment where a well-read staff can talk extensively about—take your pick—the latest bestsellers, or the history of graphic novels.

“Our staff is as much our specialty as our children’s books—a section that’s bigger than a lot of children’s-only bookstores,” Simoneaux says.

In fact, there are three employees who have been on staff for more than 20-years, and ten people who have been with the company for over ten years. All of them, according to Simoneaux, “read, read, read.”

Which, naturally, is a huge benefit for shoppers looking for their next book, whatever subject interests them. “All of our categories are really deep,” Simoneaux says. “We thoroughly cover history, biographies, fiction, gardening, for example. We’ll find you what you need.”

Even if you’re not sure what your next read is before walking in to Chester County Book and Music Company, guaranteed, you won’t leave empty-handed.

That’s because this bookstore also specializes in “shelf-talkers”—recommended staff picks prominently displayed for shoppers.

The beautiful book covers are all lined up to pull you in, sure, but the comprehensive comments personalize the publisher’s synopsis so, even if you buy just one book, you’re pretty sure it’s the one for you.

Here’s an example:

Simoneaux’s summer reading pick for 2009 (if she had to choose just one) is A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick.

The staff comment: (written by Joe Drabyak, who also recommends the book):

When a wealthy and widowed industrialist in snowbound, rural Wisconsin circa 1907 acquires a mail-order bride the lives of both individuals slide dangerously down a new path as each party struggles with an agenda of their own and iciness in their hearts. Robert Goolrick’s prose has the delicacy of a snowflake, the sharpness of the bitter cold, and the narrative momentum of an avalanche. This debut work of fiction is a worthy follow-up to his acclaimed memoir. – Joe Drabyak

Add that to your summer reading list.

It wasn’t always Simoneaux’s dream to own a bookstore, rather it was husband Bob’s. Both came from the book industry, Kathy working as a buyer for Barnes and Noble in New York, and Bob a sales manager for a publishing company also in New York, which is where they met.

“I wasn’t sure about working in retail any longer,” Kathy Simoneaux says. “But the customers here are a lot nicer than in Manhattan.”

Simoneaux remembers first moving into the area and how locals befriended she and her husband. “Back then we were small enough that the store felt like my living room,” she says. “You knew most of the people who walked through the door.”

Times change, naturally, and five years after opening their store, they relocated and expanded to their current location. They continued their success, and just as their loyal followers grew, so did the store.

The biggest adjustment came in 1993 when they expanded again to open the Magnolia Grill, where Cajun cuisine is served up for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Bob, a New Orleans native, came up with the idea.

“It was Bob’s dream of owning a bookstore and having a New Orleans-style restaurant,” says Simoneaux.

So while other bookstores were opening cafes, the Simoneauxs gave the restaurant business a try, opting to own and manage it rather than taking the franchise-route.

When they opened the restaurant, “We stepped into new personality shoes,” Kathy Simoneaux says, which as it turned out, proved to be a good fit; It wasn’t long before the Grill attracted its own regular customers.

In 1995, the Simoneaux’s were ready to expand again, so they purchased the existing Rainbow Records store next door, broke through the wall to add music as a store specialty. Then, a year later, the back section of the bookstore was created.

Today, Chester County Book and Music Co. is one of the largest independently owned bookstores the U.S., and just one of a handful still around in the area.

“Online bookstores have affected all brick and mortar stores. They are tough competitors,” Simoneaux says. “They’ve definitely sifted away a lot of our business.”

Perhaps the music business has taken the hardest hit, with few buyers looking to add to their CD collections. But Simoneaux is still optimistic. “We’ll just have to wait to see what the future holds,” she says.

In fact, there are three employees who have been on staff for more than 20-years, and ten people who have been with the company for over ten years. All of them, according to Simoneaux, “read, read, read.”

And while Simoneaux says colleagues talk about “having to survive, not to grow,” there’s a movement going on to support her shop and others like it.

Among the voices educating the public and standing by independently owned bookstores are the American Booksellers Association (ABA), and IndieBound, an online collective reminding all of us to shop locally to benefit our entire community.

But, even though times are tough, the Simoneauxs are committed to sponsoring events, book signings and imparting their prolific list of books discovered by a staff of bookworms more than willing to share their favorites.