A Bookshop of My Own: The Diary of Opening a Used Bookstore

What does it really take to open a used bookstore in 2026? Join me, Stef Tousignant, as I document the messy, inspiring, behind-the-scenes journey from the stacks of donated books in my office to the grand opening of The Phoenix Used Bookshop . This is a diary-style podcast — raw voice memos, real decisions, setbacks and small victories — for anyone who’s ever dreamed of owning a bookstore but wondered what it’s really like.

A Bookshop of My Own: The Diary of Opening a Used Bookstore is a arts podcast hosted by Stef Tousignant, with 43 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Stef Tousignant hosts A Bookshop of My Own: The Diary of Opening a Used Bookstore, a arts show with 43 episodes published.

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  Episode #42

  The Balancing Act

  Aug 6, 202610 minS1

  Balance is a myth. There's only what you're saying yes to today and what gets the no. Stef says yes to her kids, her cats, and the business. Everything else—the yard with vines, the water-filled pots—gets the no for now. But something shifted this week. Writing crept back in. She woke up on Sunday and felt it: I need to write. So she committed to 15 minutes daily, and in just a few days, she cracked open the parenting book she's been working on for five years. The time spent not writing was productive—she reworked the entire structure. The book now focuses on the underlying factors that keep parents thriving or struggling, accessing resilience or not. It feels solid. Meanwhile, she interviewed eight people this week (all qualified, all future hires for expansion). One hire landed: someone to list books on Biblio (not Amazon), a self-starter type A who's already performing. The 2nd Location Decision: Two options, both complicated. Option 1: quieter strip mall, 700 square feet, 3-year lease, higher rent—but there's a wall that could divide space for a coffee shop sublease, lowering her effective rent to 75%. Option 2: busier strip mall, closer to Larkspur, stricter signage rules, easier to overlook. Both have trade-offs; both are cheaper than regular retail for a reason. The Bulk Pick Up: A widow with 3-4 bookshelves "just has a couple hundred books." Spoiler: it's thousands. Stef's learned to probe before showing up. Today: packing and assessing at a 2-floor condo. Tomorrow: logistics oftpostpartm getting boxes out. Not really a day off, but when else would it happen? The Nonprofit Partnership: Touring the Postpartum Support Center in San Rafael today to discuss a fundraising book sale. Maternal health, peer support, the Marin diaper bank—exactly what she's supported her whole career. Logistical questions remain about space, but it's happening. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ Multiple calls coming in simultaneously. That's how you know something's working. Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com . Links mentioned: Biblio book listings Postpartum Support Center San Rafael Submit a book request

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  Episode #41

  The Room Within a Room

  Jul 30, 202610 minS1

  Stef has three second-location options in motion: one nonprofit-dependent (long-term), one with owners on vacation (on hold), and one in a shopping center (actively pursuing). The shopping center spot is 500 square feet—small, but workable because of a design concept she discovered visiting River Bend Books in West Hartford, Connecticut. At River Bend, she noticed their genius: a room within a room. They created an intimate event space inside their small bookstore. Stef is applying this to her floor plan using double-sided bookshelves as walls—doubling capacity, creating specialty zones (history, nonfiction) around the perimeter, and leaving the inner room for fiction and high-demand titles with moveable tables for events. The foot traffic at this shopping center location is solid, which matters more than she realized. Walk-by customers create a baseline of curious shoppers. The numbers work, but it's a 2-year lease—more risk than her Larkspur space. On hiring: she found a high school senior taking community college classes for afternoon shifts. Still recruiting for mornings. Plus, she needs someone for 2-3 days/week to do backend book processing—sorting donations, prepping inventory for nonprofit book sales, different skill set than retail. Storage is full. Books are in her garage. The second location can't come soon enough. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com . Links mentioned: S ubmit a book request Ethan Joella - fiction author, new book: The Top of the World River Bend Bookshop West Hartford CT

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  Episode #40

  The Underplay

  Jul 23, 202620 minS1

  Opening a used bookstore: Stef's Instagram is plateaued at 1,000 followers despite press coverage, and she realizes the problem isn't the plateau—it's that she's underplaying her wins and not talking about half of what she's actually doing. - I have strong podcast downloads, but Instagram is stuck at 1,000 followers. Press coverage didn't move the needle. What actually works? Collabs and influencers. But the real issue: I've been underplaying everything. I set marketing on the back burner, thinking podcast and newsletter are running, then forget it needs constant care. I'm doing things—community review bookmarks (Penn-funded!), events, strategy—but I barely talk about them. What I'm Doing: Reuse Fair book swap (August) Phoenix En Plein Air book club (August 11) Typewriter event with Social Club (September—parents writing love letters on typewriters + books) Haters Club for teens (pick a book you'd hate, read it, discuss) Miller Nights tabling (maybe, building email list with a voting activation) The Bags Mistake: I ordered custom bags and they arrived 22 inches tall—perfect for picture books, terrible for the store. First real mess-up. Moving on. The Insight: I run multiple businesses, got a master's in Applied Positive Psychology, have 20 years of experience, and I'm breaking even in months 1-3. But I underplay it all. A typical business takes one win and markets it for 6 months. I do five things and mention none of them. The Fix: Longer-format social videos—2 minutes instead of 10 seconds. Tell the story of why things matter. Stop underplaying. The real message: little things every day push the business forward. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ It's not the plateau. It's the story I forgot to tell. Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Miller Nights event Phoenix En Plein Air Submit a book request

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  Episode #38

  The Decisions Ahead

  Jul 9, 202612 min

  Opening a used bookstore: Two and a half months in, and Stef's already hunting for a second space. She's rotating inventory strategically, designing a charitable book sale model with nonprofits, correcting the record on her credentials, and taking her first family vacation since opening. I'm wrestling with a question to start out the episode: Is this normal? Do people open a store and then two months later start looking for another one? Probably not. But the Larkspur store is doing so well, and if I can hire the right people, it can run without me present. The complications I'm managing now aren't the store itself—it's the contributions. They're overwhelming. Mostly coming in on Wednesdays (our slowest day, which is great). If I open another location nearby, I can distribute the donation load and relieve some of that pressure. Inventory Strategy: I'm rotating genres monthly—sometimes twice a month for middle readers because I have SO many. I pull books from shelves that have had their moment, keep the popular series (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Man), and rotate in fresh titles. It keeps the store feeling alive and gives books second chances. The Charitable Model: Here's what I've been thinking: quarterly $2 book sales benefiting local nonprofits. I run the book swap (already doing them with the Reuse Alliance—next one August 15th in Bryn Mawr). They get 90% of proceeds, I take 10% for storage. Better yet: if they have warehouse or property space, they give me storage in exchange for running the sale. Win-win. The Marin IJ Article: It dropped Sunday in the feature section—front page of local news. Photo of me stocking shelves. Overall happy with it, but there's an important correction: the article said I have a Master's in Psychology. I don't. I have a Master's in Applied Positive Psychology—the science of well-being. That's a critical distinction. I'm not a clinician. I don't work with mental illness or deficit psychology. I work with thriving, gratitude, community mattering, and engagement. They also left in all the "ums" and "likes" in my quotes, which was weird. Phoenix En Plein Air: Officially launched! Good signup for the book club. First meeting August 11. Tartufo by KIra Jane Buxton. If you want to join but live elsewhere (Portland? anywhere?), I'll mail you the book for $20 and you can send questions for the discussion. Community is location-flexible. The Pause: I'm closing July 12-18 for a family vacation to Connecticut. My family needed this. I'm nervous about the hit to the bottom line, but since I'm already closed Mondays and Tuesdays, I'm only really closed four days. It should be okay. Store Upgrades: New shelving in the back room (the metro shelves weren't working), new wallpaper on the back wall. Spending a tiny bit of money to invest in the space feels right. The community loves this store—parents, grandparents, nannies. It's thriving. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ (and still arriving) Two months in and already thinking expansion. That's either genius or insane. We'll find out. 🐦‍🔥 Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Phoenix En Plein Air book club (August 11, Tartufo) Reuse Alliance Book Swap (August 15, Marin City) Marin Independent Journal article Submit a book request .

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  Episode #37

  The Interview

  Jun 25, 202634 minS1

  Opening a used bookstore: Stef sits down with Marin Independent Journal for a complete interview covering all the questions anyone would want to know the answers to! In this episode, you get a different format: an interview. Fly-on-the-wall POV as Marin IJ asks the questions that have probably been on your mind since Episode 1. How did this actually happen? What were the biggest obstacles? What's next? How does the mission work in practice? All of it. Current Book Count: ~15,000+ Sometimes the story is best told by answering the questions directly. Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at p hoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Marin Independent Journal Submit a book request

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