Frazier's Bookstore: A Longtime Lexington Landmark Gets a New Owner

When Kayt and Donald L. Huttlin, Jr. purchased a house on Second Avenue in Lexington, North Carolina, one of the selling points was its close proximity to Frazier's Bookstore. Kayt Huttlin, a former librarian, had always been a book lover, so she enjoyed the idea that she could just pop into the community bookstore on a whim.

Just over six months later, Huttlin enters the store not on a whim, but with a purpose: She's one of Frazier's new owners.

The Huttlins moved to Lexington from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in June 2002, when Donald Huttlin took a job as president of the Green Printing and Packaging Company. And while Kayt Huttlin had often harbored dreams of owning a bookstore, it wasn't something she'd planned. "For a long time, I thought it'd be a wonderful thing to own a bookstore. I always loved books, and I wanted to be a part of the community," she explained. "When we moved in [to the new house], we still had the [Bethlehem] house. [In late July or early August] we sold that house on a Thursday, and I went to the bookstore the next day and … I saw the 'For Sale' sign."

The very same day, "I went to the bank and said, 'I want to buy a bookstore, how do I do this?'" Huttlin continued. She said the commercial loan officer steered her to Charles John, who works for the Small Business Technology Development Center, a free service offered by the University of North Carolina in Winston-Salem that helps people develop small businesses. John's help was significant in helping Huttlin purchase the bookstore.

Today, Huttlin is one quarter of an ownership team that consists of her son, Donald T., and his wife, Debbie Weber, and Huttlin's "silent partner," Donald L.

Huttlin describes her area of Lexington, which the locals refer to as "uptown," as a combination shopping and residential district -- a walking community. "It's the center of town," she said. "Everybody just likes to walk here."

The town has a population of 26,000 people, and there isn't a chain store in the vicinity, she noted. "The closest chain is a Barnes & Noble in Winston-Salem, and that's a good 30 minute drive," she said. "This is a very unique situation, and this community has supported this store since 1928."

It was back in 1928 that the Fink family first opened what was to become Frazier's Bookstore, Huttlin said. The Finks then sold the store to Arvelle and Isabel Frazier in 1948. In 1986, the store was passed down to the Frazier's son Eric and his wife, Margie. Now, the store is in the caring hands of the Huttlin family.

Huttlin officially took over the general interest bookstore on November 1, and immediately began changing the layout of the 3,800-square-foot store. For one, she's added chairs and sofas to make the store more comfortable.

Furthermore, Frazier's Bookstore will no longer carry stationery and office supplies, Huttlin said. "We didn't want to get into selling staplers, etcetera," she said. "We're trying to be selective in terms of what we get into…. Our immediate area of expansion will be 'coffee café' -- that was the plan to begin with, and we believe we'll have a market for it here."

Huttlin said that they plan to make use of an additional 3,800-square-foot space on the second floor. "We'll use that as a place where local book clubs can meet," she said. Already, Frazier's has some events planned for the space when Lexington holds its citywide book club -- featuring the book This Rock (Scribner paperback) by the North Carolina author Robert Morgan -- in April. "We'll have some discussion groups at the store," she said.

Huttlin said the Book Sense program would play a big role at the bookstore. In fact, being an avid reader and book lover, she was well aware of the program prior to purchasing Frazier's. "When we lived in Bethlehem, friends from all over the country told me to go to the Moravian Book Shop … and they had a wonderful Book Sense display," she said. "The books [listed on the Book Sense 76] have a depth to them. It's important to be a part of [the Book Sense program]." --David Grogan