U-District bookshop relinquishes corner to Chase, moves online

John Watkins has waited on customers at Twice Sold Tales for almost two decades.

He knows that somewhere on his shelves, there's a book for everyone -- something they didn't know they wanted before walking through the doors of his University District shop.

"I love talking to people about books and getting them a book they didn't know about," he said. "I love the interaction."

Watkins will miss that most of all.

Nevertheless, he's turning the page in his store's history. The shop, located at the corner of Northeast 45th Street and University Way Northeast since 1997, is moving entirely online at the end of March.

"I won't have the personal contact," he said.

But there's always his blog, he adds. And relocating the store's operations to Vashon Island will allow him to be close to his aging parents.

Right now, he lives just a few blocks from his store's prominent location at one of the neighborhood's busiest corners.

Twice Sold Tales can thank that corner, a major intersection with high volumes of foot traffic from the nearby University of Washington, for its impending move. JPMorgan Chase has its eye on the property since a nearby branch at Brooklyn Avenue Northeast and Northeast 43rd Street will be dislocated by a Sound Transit light rail station in a few years.

Watkins has no complaints about relinquishing his corner to the bank, which bought Seattle-based WaMu after it was seized by regulators in 2008.

"I'm in a position where I can get a chunk of change to get out here," he said.

How much, he doesn't want to say.

"Enough to make me move," he said vaguely.

Enough to make him dive into an online world long seen by some as the enemy of independent bookstores.

Watkins has a different perspective on moving to an online platform. Sales through the Twice Sold Tales website have been steadily growing over the past several years. And he said Amazon.com -- the online retail giant often condemned as another nail in the independent bookseller's coffin -- provides a global platform for his merchandise.

Still, Seattle has seen a wealth of small bookshops close their doors in recent years. One of the most lamented was Bailey Coy Books on Capitol Hill, just blocks from another Twice Sold Tales location.

The Capitol Hill store, owned by Watkins' business partner Jamie Lutton, will remain open, and customers can redeem book credit from both stores there.

Watkins' shop opened in 1992 in Wallingford. Now, he said he's ready for something new.

"I love having an open shop, but as a practical matter, it's going to fit with my life better," he said.

Watkins added: "The business is changing. I'm not sure how it's going to change in the future -- e-books are becoming something."

The University District shop will sell off its in-store inventory over the next few months.

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