By Zoe Perzo
Cupboard Maker Books is another store that came highly recommended for its annual Bookstore Romance Day celebrations! Located in Enola, Pennsylvania, the bookstore has been in operation for 26 years. I sat down with owner Michelle Haring to learn more about her, her store, and the plan for this Bookstore Romance Day.
Haring admitted that bookselling wasn’t the original plan.
“Cupboard Maker Books began in February 1998 as a custom-built painted furniture store in a 350-square-foot space behind a barber shop,” Haring said. “On the first day of business, there was one shelf of used books, but the books quickly began to overtake the business.”
Originally, Haring had been a high school teacher, while her husband, Jason, minded the store. But when their son came along, the couple switched places. Jason got a full time job so Michelle could be the “stay-in-the-bookstore mom.”
The bookstore grew at a rapid pace. Haring explained, “There were three growth spurts before we found our current 6,500-square-foot location in 2002. After renting it for several years, we were able to buy the building.”
Owning the building allowed them to add another wonderful feature: bookstore cats.
If you visit Cupboard Maker Books today, you might meet Odin, a fluffy white gentleman; Annika, a gorgeous Himalayan who “prefers to be admired from afar;” or Mouse, an affectionate and adventurous little man. The store also houses a rotating cast of foster cats that are available for adoption.
“We began by fostering cats for a local rescue. So far, we’ve helped 243 cats find their forever homes.”
In 26 years of operation, Cupboard Maker Books has seen its fair share of challenges.
“Many lenders didn’t believe in the ability of a bookstore to thrive so finding financing to purchase the building took several years,” Haring recalled. “We lost a number of our frequent buyers to e-readers in 2012. And during the COVID lockdown, when people returned to buying paper books, we (me, Jason, and my son, Riley) locked ourselves in the bookstore and built more bookcases.”
But Haring, her family, and her staff have taken each challenge in stride and today Cupboard Maker Books houses some 100,000 titles — primarily used — with over 5,000 new titles embedded within the collection.
And every year, the store participates in Bookstore Romance Day.
“Cupboard Maker Books has always been romance positive,” Haring explained. “It’s my favorite genre because everyone deserves a happily ever after…One author told me he thinks romance is the genre of hope.”
“Our first Romance Bookstore Day, we had over thirty authors! It took the entire weekend, so we ran a slumber party for fans and authors on Saturday night,” she recalled. “Everyone loved it but all of the staff were exhausted on Sunday.”
“In 2020, we ran a more understated Bookstore Romance Day but supplemented it with a Facebook group. Last year we made trading cards for every author, and this year we made stickers for every author.”
So what do they have planned this year?
“Our event coordinator, Olivia Kepler, is spearheading Bookstore Romance Day this year,” said Haring. “Because we love everything romance, we have decided to expand it to an entire weekend! We are going to have about 35 authors over three days. We like to offer as many sub-genres as we can, from darker stuff to fluffy romance. We love Bookstore Romance Day and everyone’s participation makes it better!”
You can visit Cupboard Maker Books’ event calendar to see the full line up of Bookstore Romance Day events and authors!
If you’re celebrating Bookstore Romance Day near Enola, consider stopping by Cupboard Maker Books! You can also visit their website, or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.
