HENDERSON, Nev. (FOX5) – A Henderson used bookstore says they’re treading water, and that COVID-19 aftereffects are partially to blame.
Each bookshelf at Copper Cat Books, off Stephanie and Horizon Ridge, is curated by husband and wife owners Wendy and Anthony Marcisofsky.
“We’ve actually done pretty well together,” Anthony says. “She decides what we want to do, and then I’m the one that kind of puts it in place and gets it done.”
This is the third business the pair has owned, but this venture has proved to be more challenging than others.
“We’re treading water right now,” Wendy says.
She says COVID-19 cost the store a lot of their regular customers, and affected other stores in the strip mall that they depend on for foot traffic.
Their two neighboring businesses are currently closed: one closed one year ago, and the other closed two weeks ago.
“You have people that, they’re waiting for their hamburger, they’re waiting for a table at a restaurant, or they’ve finished eating at a restaurant and they go, ‘oh look a bookstore,’” Wendy says.
The pandemic is not the only factor Wendy blames. She says new ways to read like Kindles, and giant competitors like Amazon, have proved to be worthy competitors.
“We can’t always compete with them and online is really convenient,” Wendy says.
They’re not giving up. They’re updating their website to add online sales, and are joining a book association for additional support.
“I think there’s an opportunity for success,” Wendy says. “We’ll find out, probably within the next year or two. We’re not giving up.”
In the meantime, they have a message to the community:
“Support the little guy, the small businesses need it so badly,” Wendy says.
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