Retail report--2005: Florida bookseller comes full circle, as others take off in new directions.

Once a teacher, always a teacher.

Jackie Perkins entered segregated Florida classrooms in Broward and Orange counties determined to make a difference. Armed with a degree from Florida A&M University and a passion for knowledge that comes from reading, she resolved to share that passion with her students. Over three decades, Perkins achieved her goal but was often discouraged by the scarcity of available books by, for and about African Americans. The available textbooks contained Eurocentric stories that "did not match my culture, my history or my interests," she recalls. When she left the classroom in 1982, she took her love of books with her. After the death of her husband three years into her retirement, Perkins began considering ways to combine her love of books and teaching into a new venture--a bookstore of her own.

"Bookstores [in Orlando] had very few books by black writers and were not interested in 'searching' their resources to find them," says Perkins. "There were fewer than five black bookstores in all of Florida in 1989, so it didn't take a very in-depth scientific study to determine the need for a black bookstore in Orlando."

A Place for Children

On February 1, 1990, Montsho Books, Etc., Inc. opened its doors. It immediately became a community center and resource. Montsho was a full-service bookstore, but Perkins never forgot the children. Whether in the bookstore or during appearances at schools or libraries, Perkins would often revert to teaching mode. Whenever children needed help choosing a book, understanding a story or pronouncing a word, she was often at their side. Montsho was the first Orlando bookstore to host Saturday Morning Story Time for children.

"Every Saturday morning at 11 A.M., Montsho Books presented reading and storytelling for children. The store also presented community preschools with libraries. It enabled children, whose parents otherwise might not be able to afford it, to set up their own home libraries," remembers Orlando resident Betty J. Williams.

Through its special events arm, Montsho was the on-site bookstore for the annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival in nearby Eatonville. Author Janice Sims of nearby Mascotte, Florida, whose most recent romance is Waiting for You (Arabesque, May 2005), has fond memories with Perkins at Zora Neale Hurston and Ocala Arts Festivals.

"Jackie would set up a tent. Sometimes authors who arrived early would help. Once we ensnared them, all of us would tell them about our books," says Sims, who is also a contributor to Season of Miracles (Arabesque, October 2005).

Cherishing the Memories

Years of the bookstore wars--competition from the encroaching presences of large national chains and online book retailers--took a toll. "I still loved books," says Perkins, "but I wasn't enjoying the day-to-day running of a bookstore as much."

Always positive, Perkins notes the "bright spots" derived from her venture, not the least of which is "that my own sons and their children are pleased with what I do." She also felt joy when her former students brought their children and grandchildren into the store, as well as when visitors came to Montsho from other cities who were referred by satisfied customers and the community recognition of its efforts.

Nevertheless, in December 2004, after 15 years as "Central Florida's first and finest African American bookstore," Montsho closed its doors. Readers and writers felt the loss of an old and valued friend.

"I am truly saddened about Montsho's closing," says Sims. "Jackie Perkins is my favorite bookseller. She's so warm and genuinely caring. Every time I went to her store or attended some event she was in charge of, I felt right at home.

"She knows more about literature than anyone I've ever met. You can tell she truly loves books. Everybody who has ever met her learned to love her," she adds.

Although the bookstore has closed, Montsho will maintain a presence within the community through the works of a foundation, which provides books, training and services to disadvantaged child-care centers and families of the children served. Perkins serves as executive director.

"Through our project, 'Read to Me,' the foundation provides a start-up library of new, multicultural, age-appropriate books for a handful of disadvantaged child-care centers and provides a schedule that includes daily reading sessions for each age group up to five-years-old," says Perkins.

"The foundation also provides a book a month to each child in the center to start and enhance his or her own home library. There are also monthly workshops for parents to help them develop teaching tools they can use at home with their children."

Ever mindful of her days in the classroom when Afrocentric materials were nonexistent, the foundation has donated more than 1,750 Africana encyclopedias to 28 schools of all levels within the city of Orlando and sponsored the first annual Read Around the Park, or RAP, family reading festival in Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando with several community partners last spring. (No date has been set for 2006.)

RELATED ARTICLE: Bookselling: the year in review.

Montsho wasn't the only African American bookstore to make a transition during 2005. In Indianapolis, X-Pression Bookstore and Gallery closed after 17 years in business. In 2002, the owner, Donna Stokes-Lucas, moved the store to a renovated space in the city's central business district. However, lack of parking and traffic restrictions combined to diminish already slow sales.

The future of Black Images Book Bazaar in Dallas is "still being considered," says Emma Rodgers, who owns the store with Ashira Tosihwe. They are gratified by the outpouring of local and national support after reports that the store might close when its lease expired this past summer. This year, Black Images and GRITS Literary Services have launched several aggressive marketing campaigns and promotions designed to increase and maintain customer support.

Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem remains open, but co owner Clara Villarosa has again retired, giving Villarosa the distinction of having officially retired on both sides of the Rockies. She previously owned a store in Denver before "retiring" to New York City.

Iona's Gallery and Great Finds, co-owned by author, educator and raconteur Bertice Berry and Jeanine Chambers, opened in Savannah, Georgia. Bringing an important African American presence to the city's revitalized downtown area, the business offers books, fine art, jewelry and furniture.

Shrine of the Black Madonna Bookstore Cultural Center and Bookstore, which operates stores in Atlanta, Detroit and Houston, celebrated its 35th anniversary in October. To commemorate this milestone, the Shrine is sponsoring a short story contest in honor of Barbara "Nandi" Martin, the founding national director of the cultural center and bookstore for new and unpublished writers. Rukiya Curvey-Johnson, director of the Detroit store, says additional events are planned for 2005 and 2006.

Karibu Books' five-bookstore chain, which evolved more than a decade ago from vending tables in the District of Columbia, has opened a sixth story in Security Square Mall in Baltimore. Owners Simba Sana and Yao Ahoto have announced major plans to expand Karibu to 15 to 30 more stores within the next two to five years. The chain's current stores are in Maryland and Virginia suburbs that circle Washington, D.C.

Nubian Heritage also announced expansion plans that would launch a national African American bookstore chain and would add 20 more "lifestyle stores" throughout the country in the next two years. Nubian Heritage operates four stores located in Harlem, Brooklyn and Queens.

Gwendolyn E. Osborne is a Chicago-based freelance writer who often writes about African American bookstores for BIBR.