A Bookshop of My Own: The Diary of Opening a Used Bookstore
Episodes
The Final Piece
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Opening a used bookstore: Stef locks in a crucial book source with rock-bottom 'cost of goods', navigates a home drowning in 3,000+ books, discusses t...
The Margins
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Opening a used bookstore: Stef completes business registration, develops SKU and pricing systems, redoes her P&L, and explains why growing up in s...
The Strawberry Parable
01 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Opening a used bookstore: Stef makes it official with an LLC, launches a landing page, and announces The Phoenix Used Bookshop to her neighbors—who ...
The Phoenix Rises
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Opening a used bookstore: Its March 2025 and we have finally hit 2,000 books through steady estate sale work, come along as Stef navigates Mill Valley...
Chapter 2: The Opportunity Map
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Opening a used bookstore in Mill Valley: After a failed acquisition attempt, Stef maps Marin County's book deserts, launches her book-scouting operati...
The Turning Point
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, everything comes to a head. While venting my frustrations to the sellers’ agents, they unexpectedly add the owners to the email cha...
The Misery of The Deal
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, the back-and-forth over the bookstore sale gets even messier. I push the commercial agents to fix misleading disclosures—changes th...
The Things You Cannot Change…
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I finally sit down face-to-face with the owners of the used bookstore I’ve been trying to buy. I walk in hopeful-I walk out disillu...
The Gut Punch
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, things finally move: after weeks of silence, the business owners get back to me with answers to my long list of questions. I get real...
The Wheel of Fortune
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, something shifts. Whether or not I get the bookstore I’ve been pursuing, I realize I’m doing this—I’m going to open a used bo...
The Struggle is Real...
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I’m still waiting — and waiting — to hear back about my offer to buy the used bookstore. What begins as cautious optimism turns...
The Intentions
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I step back from the chaos of logistics to look inward — developing my why for opening a used bookstore. I make lists of what I’m...
The Quagmire and the Pause
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I dive into the part of the story no one glamorizes — the logistical nightmare of trying to buy an existing used bookstore. Referra...
The Story Begins...
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this first full episode, I share the story behind A Bookshop of My Own — how I grew up surrounded by small business life, why bookstores have alw...
Episode 0: The Story Behind A Bookshop of My Own
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Before the shelves are built, before the grand opening, there’s a story: I thought I was going to buy an existing used bookstore...that didn’t wor...