Meet Eddie Cardenas, Laredo's Newest Used Bookstore Owner!

Q&A

Me: What was your response when you heard that B. Dalton was closing? Were you a regular customer?

Eddie: When I heard that B. Dalton was closing, I thought, Well that's too bad, but it probably opens up an opportunity for someone else. I have been living in Indianapolis recently and I bought books mostly from Half-Price books and Books-A-Million.

Me: When did you know that opening a used bookstore was going to be a serious endeavor, versus just a dream?

Eddie: I was actually working on opening a bakery, having just graduated from pastry school, but I ran across some research I did in 2003 when I had dared to dream that I could open up a bookstore and decided to go for it this time.

Me: Why did you opt to open a used bookstore rather than a general bookstore?

Eddie: I had a shoestring budget to work with and felt that a used bookstore would help me get my foot in the door for something bigger later on.

Me: What was, and is, your vision for the store? What types of books do you hope to stock most of? Who is your target customer?

Eddie: If things go well, I will probably open a branch in south Laredo and start offering new books as well. At the same time, I will be investigating starting up a bigger bookstore with all the amenities, like a Books-A-Million type store.

Me: Will the store host any type of events for the community?

Eddie: Maybe, I haven't given it much thought. I have thought once in a while that I would like to have a group form up that reads books out loud. Guest readers would help get that started.

Me: How did you acquire the store's opening inventory (donations, etc.)? How many titles, approximately, will the store carry at once? What will pricing be?

Eddie: I bought the inventory from a used bookstore in Dallas that offers up books and advice to people wanting to start up a used bookstore. I will have a lot of titles, somwhere between 4,500 and 5,000. They will be Mysteries, Adventure, Sci-Fi, General Fiction, Horror, and Romance, as well as a couple shelves of non-fiction and westerns

Me: How/why did you choose Calton Rd. as the store's location?

Eddie: I thought [it] was centrally located enough to attract customers from all over the city. There's plenty of traffic going through and a lot of traffic from the HEB, Luby's and the Emperor Garden.

Me: How do you think opening a used bookstore will affect/change your life?

Eddie: I have lived in 4 different cities and moved 7 times between those cities in the past 9 years. I hope the bookstore grounds me and brings more people into my life.

Me: What has the response been like so far from family, friends, community members?

Eddie: I love the reactions I get from people when I tell them I'm opening a bookstore. Everyone, from family and friends to the lady that took my telephone hook-up order, to the accountants I interviewed, to the city inspectors that I dealt with and all the bank people I have talked to--all are excited about the prospect. Sometimes it seems that I'm not excited enough the way people react.

Me: Have you hired employees, or will you be the at the bookstore each day?

Eddie: I will be at the bookstore myself and will eventually hire help so I can take a day or two off during the week.

Me: What was your career before you decided to embark on this journey?

Eddie: I've been working as an International customer service rep for International Paper for the past 10 years and I studied to be a Pastry Chef for the last year of those ten. I actually moved to Laredo to open a pastry/bakery shop. I felt that the bookstore was a more viable option and tabled the bakery idea. For now.

Me: What is your favorite book and why?

Eddie: One of my favorite authors is Alan Dean Foster. I love his sense of humor and can read just about anything he writes. Incidentally, he also wrote a couple of Star Wars stories and I can't ever get enough of the Star Wars world.

There you have it! Show your support to Eddie by visiting Escape Again when it opens--I'll let you know when the date becomes certain. Any comments or other questions for Eddie? Post them below!