"How It Started..."

As we approach two weeks of normal operations here at the new Old Town Books location, we are excited to sit down and chat with the proprietor herself, Ally Kirkpatrick. Read on to learn more about the origins of OTB, a bit about the store growth process, and advice she has for future entrepreneurs.

• From where did the bookstore dream originate?

The bookstore dream started when I lived in Brooklyn, and I found myself wanting a change from my work at NYU. I was an academic advisor there, and it was a great job. I got to work with brilliant students, colleagues. But it was also a conventional office job with 9 - 5 hours and a long commute. I was yearning for something with a more flexible schedule, something that was also more aligned to my creative interests as a writer. It’s funny but I never really had a “dream” to have a bookstore. The dream, and my desire, was more so to be an artist, and to be part of a writing community. Building a bookstore was the natural manifestation of that desire, I guess. 

•  From a birds-eye view, what steps did you take to bring the shop from idea to fruition?

The first step was growing up working in small businesses - retail, cafes. That experience was really helpful when thinking about opening a store. I knew the unglamorous side of things, the long hours on your feet, the tedium of keeping a shop running. I got to witness, over and over again, an entrepreneurial vision come together to form a new business. Some were successful, others not. But that was probably the most important first step for me - not working in the publishing world, or the bookstore world, but in the small retail, small café world. It was helpful. 

When I decided to leave NYU and start my own business I started with the basics - a business plan. A name. A logo. I spent a lot of time visiting independent bookstores and seeing how things worked for them, what I liked and wanted to emulate about their businesses. It was a really fun and invigorating time. Like the start of a new writing project, in a way. All new ideas, exploration, generative and hopeful. I didn’t have a firm deadline for when I wanted to open my store, so I just kept squirreling away ideas, working on my business plan. 

When I moved to Alexandria in October 2018 I didn’t plan on opening a store so soon after moving. But I found a small storefront available for short-term lease through the AEDP Pop Up program. If I hadn’t found that spot I would not have opened my store when I did. The lower risk of not having to sign a long-term lease made it easier for me to give running a shop a try. It seemed to go over well enough, so I signed up for another year. And then another. 

•  What were some of the challenges you faced?

Financing for starting up a bookstore is hard to come by. I couldn’t even get a business credit card. So I invested my personal savings and got a small personal loan from my mom to pay for the shelving and inventory. My mom is a retired kindergarten teacher and she loves books as much as I do - when I think of my store now, it feels like it’s all possible because of my mom, and her faith in me in those early days. 

Another challenge was balancing the pros and cons of being in a pop-up space. It was great to have the flexibility and lower risk starting out. A short-term lease means less rent liability should your business fail. But what if it succeeds? I worried I’d keep investing in the store and have to move on short notice. It’s hard to grow and settle into a space when you might have to move at the drop of a hat. That’s what motivated me to find our permanent space on Royal Street. 

• Of what are you most proud?

I’m proud of the team I’ve built, of my colleagues - the booksellers who keep the place running. They’re all so smart, hardworking, and of course enthusiastic readers. They’ve stuck with the store through a really tumultuous time. It’s a point of pride that I’ve been able to choose who to work with, and that they’re the best in the biz.

Our new home at 130 S Royal St! [Photo by Stephanie Dee Photography]

• Do you have any advice for aspiring business owners?

If I were to give 2018 Ally advice before she opened her business, I would tell her to write paying herself into her business plan. At the time I thought: I’ll work for free and reinvest all the retained earnings into the business! That works for a little while. It will help your business grow. But, having lived through it, I now think it’s important to view profitability from the lens of lifestyle. Was my store really profitable in year one if the trade off was that I was working myself to death? On paper it was, but in practice it was unhealthy. Maybe that’s par for the course in starting a business, though - you’ll work a lot, not get paid a lot. Maybe my advice then is to just go into it with your eyes wide open. 

Blog and photo contributions by Ally Kirkpatrick.
Edited by Shannon McCarthy.