The Villages Daily Sun

THE VILLAGES - Tracey Brooks was not at all concerned when competition set up shop less than 2 miles away from her used book store. Experience has shown Brooks that used books are very much in demand.

"The popularity is a lot," Brooks said.

Brooks' store, All Booked Up, located in La Plaza Grande, and the competition, Raintree Books in Lady Lake, could continue operating just as well if a third used book store were to open at Lake Sumter Landing, Brooks said.

That is because used books sell.

"There is enough business in The Villages to sustain us," Brooks said.

Three years ago, Brooks said, a Villages survey indicated that a used bookstore was the type of business most requested by residents. At the suggestion of her mother, Bobbie Baroni, owner of Twice-Read Tales in Ocala, Brooks soon opened All Booked up and never looked back.

Though All Booked Up is dwarfed in size by Twice-Read Tales, sales at the small shop are excellent.

"Square-foot-wise, she triples me," Brooks said. "Businesswise, I triple her."

According to Jo Henson, owner of Raintree Books, the popularity of used books is rooted in value. With the current average price of $7.99 for a new paperback book, consumers aren't able to load up on them.

But they will undoubtedly buy a multitude of used books, which Henson said sell for $3.92 each at Raintree Books.

"We don't cater to the casual reader," Henson said. "We cater to the avid reader."

Henson said these avid readers haul with them several grocery bags of books each time they visit the store. Customers exchange their used books at both Raintree Books and All Booked Up for store credit.

Another draw to used book stores is the search for out-of-print books.

"When someone discovers an author they like, they can usually find one or two of that author's books new," Henson said, "but most of that author's books will no longer be in print."

Used bookstores also offer bargains to occasional shoppers, such as Villager Martha Beck, who was hopeful of finding a gently used and generously discounted copy of Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life."

"It is a good idea, when you can get something reasonable," Beck said. "And lots of the time, it is a book that's real popular."

Just as Brooks got into the used books business through her mother, Henson did the same through her parents, Wendell and Jo Davis. The Davises opened the original Raintree Books 43 years ago in Eustis. The store still exists, and Henson is able to draw from that inventory of 250,000 titles to supplement the 40,000 titles at the Lady Lake store.

Lucrative as All Booked Up has been, Brooks has placed the business on the real estate market. The new mother to twins, Brooks has shifted her priorities. She won't let the store go, however, until someone else takes it over and continues offering residents the used books they crave.

Jill Sherman is a reporter with the Daily Sun. She can be contacted at 753-1119, ext. 9253, or jill.sherman@thevillagesmedia.com.