FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Last Word Books Celebrates One Year Anniversary
(Olympia, WA) May 5, 2002 -
Last Word Books, an Evergreen State College student owned used bookstore, turns one year old this weekend. The store – collectively owned by Dave Accurso, Sky Crosby, TJ Merrill, and Ashley Sheve – was founded May 8, 2002. In addition to owning and operating the store, all four of them attend Evergreen full time. To celebrate, the store is hosting poetry readings and live music on Friday and Saturday, as well as a 20% off sale.
“What’s really amazing is that we don’t have any debt, except to Sky’s father,†says Merrill. Crosby’s father owns Search Light books in Walla Walla, the 4th largest independent bookstore in the state, and provided the store’s start-up inventory. The owners raised the rest of the capital themselves.
Crosby and his associates first decided to open a bookstore during winter of 2002, when a location off Kaiser Road became open for rent. Crosby, who says he’s always wanted to open a bookstore, thought he and his friends could pay the rent at the location and made plans to start a business. Though the owners of the Kaiser property rejected their bid, Accurso found another location: the back of Olympia World News.
The store opened in May that year, and has managed to break even ever since. “There’s been couple times we’ve miracled into our rent money… where someone came in at the last minute and bought a bunch of books,†Crosby says. After Olympia World News closed, the store relocated to 119 5th Ave. where the store remains today.
Although they haven’t turned a profit, the store is constantly expanding, and without any debt to speak of the group is optimistic about the future. Crosby says, “We opened during an economic decline and we’ve managed to stay open for over a year. We must be doing something right.â€
###
PRESS CONTACT: Klint Finley, public relations specialist, [Phone number removed].
Last Word Books
119 5th Ave.
Olympia, WA 98501
360-357-5255
###