By Shelley Smithssmith@salisburypost.comAs you walk into The Literary Bookpost, now located at 110 S. Main St., you know you’ve entered a labor of love.
Books cover every wall, the store cats are curled up in corners sleeping, and owner Deal Safrit greets every customer with a smile, encouraging each to ask for assistance if needed. He truly loves his job.
The Literary Bookpost opened Aug. 10, 1998, and has recently moved to its new location across the street.
“People ask me why we moved right across the street,” said Safrit. “But when you walk into the new store, you realize why.”
More than 500 people attended the re-grand opening Friday night for The Literary Bookpost. The new location, which was Phil’s Shoes years ago, has undergone a complete transformation and is two-and-a-half times larger than the previous location at 119 S. Main St.
Last fall Safrit partnered with Bill and Cora Greene. The Greenes purchased the building, renovated it, with Cora doing all the interior design work, too. Jon Palmer was the architect for the project, and Al Wilson was the contractor.
“We are so excited about the transformation,” Safrit said.
Safrit said aside from being visually pleasing, the layout of the store helps his customers.
“We were able to spread out the books more, allowing for better traffic patterns and more visibility of the books,” Safrit said. “It’s a more customer friendly store. We are getting more people in that will browse for a long time.”
New to The Literary Bookpost are children’s books, which have their own section below the main floor. Bookshelves line the walls, painted each color found in an eight-count box of Crayola crayons. There is even a seasonal section.
Safrit’s daughter Daphne took on the children’s section.
“My dad wasn’t sure that I would have enough books to fill up the shelves, but I knew I would,” Daphne Safrit said.
Located in the children’s section are children’s fiction, young adult fiction, reference books, science fiction, fantasy novels and graphic novels.
“There’s always someone wanting something from the ‘Twilight’ series,” said Daphne Safrit, who is always eager to help a child or teen find something new to read.
Safrit’s wife, Sheila Brownlow, said the move from the old store to the new took only eight days, and both stores were open during the transition.
“We’re really excited about the new store,” Brownlow said. “It’s so beautiful.”
The Literary Bookpost will continue to hold book signings and special events, but now the larger and more accommodating space allows the owner to do more.
“We will be able to hold luncheons, larger book club and author events in the back of our store and upstairs,” Safrit said.
The Literary Bookpost also now has a mezzanine featuring poetry, drama and literary criticism books.
“There’s also an outside area which we are going to pave with bricks to hold outdoor events,” Safrit said. “We’re really excited about the possibilities.”
Danny Woomer, age 10, said he was excited for the new store, especially the children and young adult section.
“I like the new store,” Woomer said. “There are a lot of books I’ve never heard of.”
The Literary Bookpost has a little bit of everything, including Spanish titles, calendars, journals, sale and clearance items and Historic Salisbury postcards.
There are also “staff picks” that are chosen as favorites by Safrit’s employees, and plot summaries of certain titles are on the bookshelves below the books.
One of The Literary Bookpost’s missions, as stated on the store’s Web site, is to remain a bookstore that “provides the personality, the purpose, and the passion of an independent, non-corporate purveyor of the finest, carefully-chosen selection of reading material possible.”
The Literary Bookpost tries to do just that, and if they don’t have a title someone is looking for, they will order it.
Despite the economy, Safrit said sales have been up since January, and he has seen an increase in sales and traffic since moving to the new location.
The Literary Bookpost is hosting five events between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7. Stop by the store or visit the Web site, www.literarybookpost.com, for more information.
Also on the Web site are featured titles, staff backgrounds and staff picks, and a calendar of events.
The Literary Bookpost is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.