Hicklebee’s in San Jose brings stories to life

Editor’s Observe: The Biz Beat is a sequence highlighting native small companies and eating places in Silicon Valley.

Sitting comfortably in an aisle of Hicklebee’s bookstore, Calvin, 11, shares a guide together with his 9-year-old brother, Malcolm. The boys look proper at dwelling, which isn’t stunning since their mother Emily Liu-Elizabeth has been bringing them there since they had been born.

Liu-Elizabeth herself has come to the store since she was just a little woman.

“Bookstores are locations for youths to return the place they really feel protected,” she mentioned, “and the place they’ll discover all these great books.”

Hicklebee’s is a family-owned enterprise run by two sisters, Valerie Lewis and Monica Holmes. Lewis is the face of the bookstore and works with authors, whereas Holmes runs the workplace and transports books to guide festivals and conferences. Lots of the employees are former lecturers and librarians.

Collectively, they’ve created a magical place for youngsters. On the partitions cavort characters from kids’s tales like “The place the Wild Issues Are” and “Madeline.” There are surprises round each nook, like the important thing to “The Secret Backyard” and the acorn that fell on Rooster Little’s head. The sisters hope to encourage curiosity in kids, main them to learn these traditional tales.

The bookstore has hosted a who’s who of authors, many earlier than they had been well-known, together with J.Okay. Rowling. When Rowling paid Hicklebee’s a go to in 1998 earlier than the discharge of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” solely a handful of shoppers got here. When she returned a 12 months later, Harry Potter had turn into a family identify and Hicklebee’s, which bought 1,000 tickets for the occasion, needed to flip individuals away.

The bookstore, situated on Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen, opened in March 1979 with 4 long-time pals: Jan Gottlieb, Lewis, Georgia Osborne and Vicki Villarreal. They jumped in with none enterprise expertise, soliciting recommendation from librarians and reaching out to publishers for catalogues.

When Villarreal and Osborne returned to educating, Gottlieb and Lewis ran the shop. Quickly Holmes joined them. Gottlieb moved away in 1991, and it’s been simply the sisters on the helm ever since. 

A part of Hicklebee’s longevity is its robust group help. When it relocated in 1989 from throughout the road, an ambulance driver shuttled books on a gurney whereas lecturers directed visitors. Six months later, when the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta Earthquake shook the books off the cabinets, a line of group members got here to assist put them again.

“We give out to the group,” Lewis mentioned, “and so they give again to us, and that’s how we’ve survived.”

Operating an unbiased bookstore isn’t with out its challenges. The sisters have needed to deal with massive chain bookstores and being undercut by Amazon. Lewis mentioned the shop’s status for its private service and specialty kids’s books units them aside.

Buyer E. Clay Buchanan agrees. He appreciates the employees’s suggestions and having the ability to flip via a guide in particular person.

“Once you’re on-line, it’s not the identical as having the guide in your arms, particularly an image guide,” he mentioned. “And you’ll discuss to somebody about it. You may’t get that on-line.”

Saving the shop

Though Hicklebee’s has outlasted the guide behemoths, they virtually shut down for good throughout the summer season of 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The bookstore pivoted to on-line orders, however couldn’t make up for a $150,000 loss from canceled guide festivals. Going through destroy, they turned to the group for help via a GoFundMe marketing campaign. The group responded, elevating sufficient in two weeks to maintain them going.

“It was overwhelming,” Lewis mentioned. “I used to be in tears.”

Along with receiving assist from publishers, authors and editors, kids got here in to donate their allowances, youngsters held a bake sale and one lady donated her federal COVID aid examine.

Within the aftermath, the sisters added merchandise like stuffed animals, greeting playing cards, science kits, crafts initiatives, puzzles, video games, toys and even studying glasses to assist the shop survive.

Pleasure Steuerwald commonly comes from Fremont to buy image books together with her son, Harrison Prioste. Steuerwald mentioned they love the texture of the shop and by no means go away dissatisfied. 

“It’s actually attention-grabbing,” Prioste mentioned. “You may’t get bored right here.”

For greater than 4 a long time, Holmes mentioned the sisters have taken pleasure within the beloved bookstore and the way it attracts prospects from all through the area.

“How many individuals get to get up within the morning and sit up for going to work?” Lewis mentioned.

Cathy Nichols, who has been at Hicklebee’s for about 15 years, mentioned on any given Saturday, kids will sit on the ground studying books or listening whereas mother and father learn to them. 

“It’s an incredible group place to return to,” she mentioned.

Contact Lorraine Gabbert at [email protected]