Toy store and cafe on hold pending city permits
Morgan Hill – The new BookSmart is up and running but the toy store and cafe will have to wait.
Morgan Hill building inspectors found code violations and the owners are running out of money for repairs and remodeling.
It sounds like a major headache, but owners Brad Jones and CInda Meister say they’re making the best of the situation.
“It’s the biggest project we’ve undertaken,” said Jones. “If we can get through this and get the toy store and cafe open, we’ll be in a good position.”
The husband-and-wife team moved their store last summer from the corner of Third Street and Monterey Road to a more spacious spot on the corner of Second and Depot streets.
They opened the new digs Thanksgiving weekend.
“Our traffic is increasing in the store,” Jones said. “We really need people to shop here and for people to find us, especially with the street construction on Depot.”
Longtime customers seem to be enjoying the parking lot and larger surroundings.
“I think its beautiful … it’s larger and more user-friendly and the parking is better,” said Donna Walton, a third-grade teacher at Nordstrom Elementary School, adding educators get a 20 percent discount on reading materials. “They’ve been so wonderful as a resource for teachers … I’ve sent book lists with parents and they’ve always been able to get (the right items).”
The store’s new location is bright and colorful and occupies 5,000 square feet with an inventory of more than 60,000 books.
The store also features educational DVDs and other knickknacks.
Thanks to a Borders Bookstore going out of business at the Valley Fair Mall and liquidating its furniture, independently owned BookSmart has new shelving.
But plans for a 2,500-square-foot toy store attached to the back of the main store have stalled – no thanks to rats who were pooping on the ceiling panels.
“I poked my head up through the acoustic panels and it was covered in feces and urine,” said Jones. “I decided to take the whole ceiling out and replace it.”
After Jones removed the acoustic panels he decided the trestles holding up the roof should be reinforced. Now city building inspectors have ordered an engineer’s report, halting work indefinitely.
The headaches don’t end there for Jones and Meister, who applied for a business rehabilitation loan from the city last year for $100,000.
Instead they got $53,000, which they said is equal to the equity they had left on their house in Morgan Hill.
They feel like they’re on the bleeding edge of a new city program from which they hoped to get more help.
“It’s a painful process, but I don’t know if it’s because we’re under-funded, it’s our first time (opening a larger store) or the city’s process.”
Jones acknowledged making a few goofs in the moving process that slowed things down, like not getting a permit before replacing air-conditioning ducts.
Meister said the store, which has been in Morgan Hill for about 12 years, will continue to be an educational resource and meeting space for the community.
“Part of our mission has been to serve the community and offer services you can’t get elsewhere,” she said.
The store runs a book club and arts and crafts classes for children. Jones said he hopes to start a Saturday night jazz series, but added he wants to get the cafe installed first. He said he’ll need to raise funds to finish the toy store before he focuses on the cafe, which will be located in the front right corner of the store as customers enter.
Jones and Meister are leasing Depot Center from the Llagas Valley Investors with an option to buy after seven years. Jones wouldn’t disclose financial details, but said the rent was favorable.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or
tb*******@mo*************.com
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