When life wrote a couple of bad chapters for Connie Cheek, she found solace in books.
Today she intends for her Not Just A Bookstore business to do the same for others. Hence, its name.
“Books really helped me through transitions in life, so I wanted a bookstore that could empower people’s mind, body and soul,” said Cheek, who runs Not Just a Bookstore with her husband Richard Cheek.
The bookstore is located at 5895 Delmar Blvd. in an area now designated as Delmar Loop East. Business could be better, but the Cheeks are counting on future expansion of the area to increase their bottom line.
Her husband compared vehicular traffic to interstate highways. Foot traffic is another story and hard to come by in the neighborhood, though some neighboring businesses do spawn passersby.
Adjacent to the west is the Sir-B-Cue, then a uniform supply store; to the east is Taylor Made Barbershop, followed by Stephanie Brown’s Salon, then Nubia, an African and Caribbean restaurant and bar.
“Some home health care nurses who visit the uniform supply store stop by the book store, since they sit at home with patients,” Connie said.
“And A lot of Taylor Made customers come in to buy books because they’re sitting and waiting on a haircut or they might get a cup of tea, especially in the winter.”
The Cheeks realize the slumping economy has also affected retail business, but said it’s hard to measure since they just opened in December ’07.
The political race may be effecting business, she said, but her husband noted that books by presidential hopeful Barack Obama are popular buys at the bookstore.
A large cast of local authors has been beneficial to the Cheeks.
“I can’t believe how many phenomenal authors are right here in St. Louis,” Connie said. “I can think of 10 right now right off the top of my head, and I know there’s more.”
Many of those authors consign their books at Not Just A Bookstore, hold book-signings there and tell fellow authors about the venue.
A women’s self-help group also meets at the bookstore regularly and Better Family Life, Inc. holds empowerment sessions there. BFL was also the first be begin a regular spoken-word event at the bookstore.
“This is what I wanted our bookstore to be,” Connie said.
After nearly a 13-year stint at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Connie said she got the vision to open the bookstore to help promote literacy, but when she took the idea to her former husband, he had plans of opening a bar.
The marriage soon dissolved.
Connie met Richard while corresponding through an Atlanta-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car facility with a license and title company that Richard worked for. They established a friendship. When she told him of her vision, he said, “I can really see that.”
When Connie told Richard she wanted to open a bookstore that she wanted to be more than a bookstore, he said, “That’s your title.”
At first Connie didn’t get what he was saying, but it soon sunk in and she went with it.
Connie went to Atlanta for a short period and returned. Richard got a job in Georgia as a police officer in a small town called Palmetto and later came here and asked her to marry him.
Richard was injured on two occasions, once while chasing a car thief and once in a fight with a gang member who went for his gun. He affected both arrests.
He retired after his injuries and found running the bookstore with his wife to be quite a change of pace.
“This is new for me, coming from law enforcement, but I was already a people person,” he said, “But I’m having fun learning. The literary field is so vast, and we have so many wonderful people here helping us.”
Richard said African Americans are buying books and not just urban books. Other big sellers are herbal teas, scented soy candles and oils that treat body ailments. They also sell art, African figurines and pastries.
The bookstore has plenty of tables and chairs for reading, meeting, eating and events.
They are a reporting bookstore for Essence Magazine’s Best Seller list.
Connie said she learned a lot about business from working with Enterprise and opening her own business. She dresses the part everyday and said you don’t have to wear blue jeans and tennis shoes just because you’re the owner.
“I thank Enterprise for the knowledge they gave me,” she said. “You need to dress a certain way to set yourself apart, so look good every day.”
Leisurely, Connie likes planting flowers, reading, decorating and hanging at her girlfriend’s pool. She is part of a sister group called Ya Ya Sisters, based on the movie, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. When they meet, they laugh, cry, eat and drink. And think.
