cedar rapids: some days, it almost seems like fate that ursla lanphear now owns the m&m books in cedar rapids.
She and her husband, Bill, took over ownership of the used bookstore in October of last year when then-owners Bobbie Mclane and Donna Young decided to retire after running the bookstore for 27 years.
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the lanphear family had moved to cedar rapids in march and ursla had been looking for work ever since. She had worked for over 20 years in childcare and was looking to do something different.
Out of the blue, he noticed an ad on craigslist listing the used bookstore for sale.
‘my mom loved used bookstores,’ lanphear said. ‘She loved old English mysteries.’
Lanphear’s mother, Marilyn, for whom the store is named, had moved to Cedar Rapids with the family but died shortly after their arrival. Lanphear, still emotional over her passing, thought she’d better at least go check out the bookstore.
‘Used bookstores can be overwhelming,’ he said. ‘but this was the most organized used bookstore I’ve ever seen. I thought, ‘my mom would love this place.’ As soon as we walked in, we knew this was what we wanted to do.”
Lanphear’s mother had left her some money, so while Marilyn never got to own a bookstore in her life, her daughter now did.
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The store was known for many years basically as books.
‘This started as a tiny place and expanded into a store over the years,’ he said. ‘it has become an incredible business. they knew their clients very well, they knew everything about their clients and what they wanted to read to build their business.
‘They didn’t want to sell this business to just anyone. It is an honor that they have sold it to us.”
She said McLane and Young have served as mentors when she took over ownership of the store. now lanphear, with the help of a part-time employee, has begun adding his own touches to the store, such as creating a seating area in one corner of the store.
‘We’ve moved this around a bit and little by little we’re starting to change some things. we’re getting such a good response to the changes that it’s good,” lanphear said.
‘We have a reputation as a romance shop, which we have a lot of, but we want to appeal to a younger audience and expand our children’s section and bring in other new authors.”
They are also in the process of converting from pen and paper inventory tracking to the use of computerized ordering and sales systems.
‘We have over 45,000 books on the shelves on any given day and we’re always restocking,’ he said, noting that they also sell new books for 20 percent off the cover price and handle special orders.
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‘For some of our clients, this is their only outing for the week or day,’ added lanphear. ‘sometimes i feel like a bartender. I’m getting to know them and I’m knowing what’s going on in their lives.”
I know of a business open for over a year that would be a nifty “my business” feature. contact michaelchevy.castranova@thegazette.com.
at a glance
owner: ursla lanphear
business l: m&m books
l address: 212 edgewood rd. northwest, cedar rapids
phone: (319) 396-8420
website: http://www.mandmbookstore.com