North Carolina Bookstore Provides a Refuge From Town Life

McIntyre's Fine Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina, celebrated its 15th anniversary on April 20. Owner Keebe Fitch was, of course, appreciative of the long-running success, but celebrated quietly. "We sent out our newsletter announcing our birthday," she said. "But it's business as usual. We've got so much to do we didn't have time for a big sale," said Fitch, who began her career in bookselling after completing her MBA at the University of North Carolina (UNC).

McIntyre's Fine Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

McIntyre's, which will be hosting an ABA Booksellers Forum on May 5, is part of the Fearrington Village center, which includes the Fearrington House Country Inn, Fearrington House Restaurant, and other shops, developed by Fitch's father, R.B. Fitch, and owned by the Fitch family. About hosting the forum, Keebe told BTW, "There's a conference room at the Inn that is used as a board room that lends itself wonderfully to events like the ABA forum."

Fitch has long been interested in bookselling and spent her undergraduate days hanging out in the Bull’s Head Bookshop, UNC's bookstore. "I was trying to decide what to do [for a career], I spent more time hanging out in the student bookstore than going to class," she said.

After getting her MBA, Fitch was helping her family launch a bookstore in Fearrington Village, intending to find someone else to manage it. She was contemplating hotel school, when she became increasingly involved in the plans for the bookstore. "I realized I could change sheets for the rest of my life," or own and run a bookstore, she said. "My decision was made for me."

Once Fitch decided on bookselling, she visited her old haunts at Bull's Head and spoke with bookseller Jean Harper, who remembered Fitch's constant presence. Harper kindly offered to show Fitch the ropes and hired her for six months to get her started. Fitch rounded out her apprenticeship by attending an ABA Booksellers School. With the stocking advice of a favorite librarian, Fitch opened McIntyre's.

Fitch continues to credit others for contributing to McIntyre's success. "I've been very lucky with the people we've had working here," she said, adding that Peter Mock, the general manager, has a following of customers who depend on his recommendations. "He's already pre-sold 40 copies of The Shadow of the Wind by the Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafon. We have a section of the store devoted to what Pete's been reading. Our buyer and events coordinator, Sarah Carr, has been with me for five years. She went back to school for library science and then came back on board. I'm very happy she's back."

McIntyre's uses their many rooms to delineate the various sections of the store.

To house the events, McIntyre's has the impressive array of Fearrington Village venues from which to choose. Fitch mentioned that there's a "great, old barn with a stage" on the property, which can seat 500 - 600 people for larger events. There are beautiful gardens and a patio. At the Village's restaurant, the store hosted a demo and dinner with Steven Raichlen, author of The Barbecue! Bible and How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques (both from Workman).

The bookstore, a 4,000-square-foot Cape Cod style building, uses the number of rooms to delineate the various sections. "We have one room with nothing but mysteries. Our lit room has a giant fireplace and is painted in an antique-looking hunter green." Fitch said of the children's lit section, "We're doing gang busters with early readers, now that we've finally figured out how to display them, we can't keep them in stock." A Book Sense display table sits near the front counter featuring top ten picks.

Some of the store's strengths, said Fitch, are its gardening and cooking sections, along with escape literature, which is in keeping with the one of the themes of McIntyre's and the Fearrington Village. "The bookstore is an escape from town," she said. "We're out in the country and with our inn, it's a great place to stay for people who are out traveling. There's a synergy between the store and our surroundings. It's a refuge." --Karen Schechner