Independent Bookstore Day Brings Excitement to St. Cloud Readers

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Book enthusiasts turned out all around the state this weekend to celebrate a special day. It is Independent Book Store Day on Saturday, and hundreds lined up outside of Books Revisted in downtown St. Cloud, eager to take part. The store has 20% off, limited signed editions from authors like Jeff Kinney, S.A. Cosby, and Alex Aster, and complimentary refreshments.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

Lee bought Books Revisited in 1995.

Owner Jon Lee says they have some special swag, too:

"We custom-printed a lot of tote bags this year, and so that was fun, Book Revisited Tote Bags. We had some local artists design the artwork, so those have been really popular."

There are three different tote bag designs. Minnesota Author Jess Lourey was on hand as well, signing copies of her latest book, "The Verdant Cage," from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

Author Jess Lourey signing copies of her latest book, PHOTO by Paul Habstritt, WJON

May 2nd is the annual Free Comic Book Day.

Lee says it is a great day to have some fun with his customers:

"It's just reinvigorating and for me, I mean, this is a big day, and it's always like a high water mark but really throughout the year, I mean, we just have such loyal customers, such great, I mean, in this day and age people can buy books anywhere, you can buy them online or you can do whatever but they come down and they support us."

Lee says he has developed a lot of relationships with his customers over 30 years of running the store, and it's just an incredible day. The festivities go until 6:00 p.m. on Saturday evening.

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Paul Habstritt, WJON

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