Celebrating Five Years

  By Doug Moe
 
            Mystery to Me opened for business on June 15, 2013, and we’re celebrating our fifth anniversary with events that span the month and will include cakes and a variety of giveaways and surprises in the store June 15-16.
            I sat down recently with Mystery to Me proprietor Joanne Berg to get her thoughts on the anniversary.
DM: Does it seem like 5 years?
Joanne: It doesn’t. The time has gone so fast. I can’t believe it. I was at a function the other evening with a number of people from the university – my previous life – and it dawned on me I hadn’t seen many of them for five years. That was amazing.
DM: When you look back at the store’s opening and the weeks leading up to it, what stands out?
Joanne: Some funny things. I retired from the University in March 2013. Around that time, my friend Ann Zanzig was traveling. When she came back I’d announced my retirement and launched a new Madison bookstore. She didn’t even know I was looking! But she was remarkable. I bought an inventory and bookshelves from Booked for Murder on University Avenue. Ann and I dusted every single book before we put them in lettered boxes (so many C's!). There were a lot of friends and family who helped - everything from designing the store layout to painting and unpacking (and shelving!) those boxes of books -- to say nothing about my friend Flo having to level the bookshelves in our old building. 
            I’d thought about owning a bookstore since I was a little girl. I’m not sure why, but I always wanted to do retail. It had always fascinated me. I didn’t know what I’d sell if it wasn’t books. Then I saw a little article that said Booked for Murder was going out of business, and it came together very quickly.
DM: I recall you had some help with the store’s interior?
Joanne: I called my friend Robin Douthitt and asked her to come over and see the paint colors I’d chosen. They were all subdued Starbucks kinds of colors. I wanted cozy. Robin walked in, looked at the colors and said, “Get in the car.” She took me to the paint store and she chose the greens. I said, “Are you serious? This so bright.” But it’s the best thing. I love the greens.
DM: What were the first few days being open like?
Joanne: I didn’t know what I was doing. In the days and weeks leading up to opening I had to get a point of sale software system up and running. I talked to people about how to process credit cards. Opening day my (now) wife Sue Riseling got us some police tape to put around the front of the store and my son laid down on the sidewalk and we drew an outline of his body. Unfortunately, I can't find any pictures from that day...I think I still had a flip phone. 
DM: It was a learning process early on?
Joanne: Slowly but surely we found out what people liked. I always wanted to have children’s books, so I knew I would have a kids’ section. While the majority of our books are still mysteries, we carry a lot of other things. If I had it to do over again, I’m not sure I’d call the store Mystery to Me. But I do still like the name. My feeling is that we need to provide what people want. Luckily, there are a lot of mystery lovers out there. 
DM: The store is known for hosting numerous author events. Do any stand out?
Joanne: For a long time I kept count of our author events, but I’ve completely lost track. We have so many. After our third year we were over 500. I started by having author slams. The first slam was held on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday and hosted 30 authors. They each talked for 15 minutes. It was fun and it certainly brought people into the store.
            Our very first event was to host Jenny Milchman - and she'll be returning with the 'up all night' thrillers tour on July 18!  Of the individual author events I'll never forget the first time we hosted William Kent Krueger. He packed the store. It was overwhelming. He came with Ellen Hart and Libby Hellmann. People showed up from everywhere. I ran out of books.
             I love Krueger's conversational style - and that’s something I subscribe to. Events should be conversational. Very few people want an author to spend a lot of time reading from their book. It’s a culture among some authors that they must read, but I’d like to change that culture for events at Mystery to Me (with the quiet exception of poetry). 
DM: How about the experience of meeting customers and building a staff?
Joanne: I love the customer engagement. It never fails to give me a new story to tell every day. One day the author James Patterson walked into the store with his wife. Andrea Potos and I were standing behind the counter. I recognized him right away. I think I tripped over my tongue a few times. I did get him his books to sign, showed him around and told him about what we hoped to do. 
            Soon after Patterson’s visit, the American Booksellers Association put out a blurb saying James Patterson was giving out grants to stores, anywhere from $150 to $10,000. All he wanted was a paragraph about how you wanted to use the money, and something from your customers about why you deserved it. We cut up pieces of paper with Jim’s website on them and handed those out at events, telling people we wanted to build a children’s section. I received one of the grants! We knocked down a wall and put in some lights and crazy shelving. Kids love it. 
            As for the staff, I’ve been very fortunate. I started with Tom Detmer. He was such a big help. He inventoried everything for me. We worked together well for a long time until he retired for real!  Now I have quite a full complement of staff - including Jayne Rowsam, who knows bookstores better than most, and she’s been a huge help. I’ve been fortunate.
DM: Any surprises over the years?
Joanne: I’ve been amazed at how supportive booksellers are of each other. At the university, I could call someone at another school and ask how they did something. There was a camaraderie. I didn’t expect that in retail, because you’re competing. But people from A Room of One’s Own helped us, people from Arcadia Books in Spring Green, and mystery stores from across the country. Everyone was very forthcoming about what I needed to think about: selecting inventory, store merchandising, any number of things.
DM: What does the future hold?
Joanne: I’m not sure. This is a really fun thing to be doing. I feel like we’re giving to the community. I hope it can continue to be successful. We're certainly working hard!  We have wonderful customers and it IS a community.
            The immediate future – our fifth anniversary celebration – comes June 14, 15 and 16. The 14th we have a big event at Hotel RED with Michael Cole of “Mod Squad” fame. He’s a Madison native. The 15th and 16th we’re tagging onto the 1960s Madison Reunion event that’s happening at the Memorial Union and will be decorating our windows in ‘60s style. We are very groovy after all...
           On the 15th and 16th we’ll have giveaways of signed books and book swag donated by many of our publisher contacts. They sent tons of stuff. On the 16th we’ll have cake at noon and 3:00, and at 2:00, a discussion with author Chris Hill about Into the Mystic, his book about ‘60s music.
            I’m trying to get Jayne to wear bell bottoms and a tie dye shirt... We’ll see how that goes.
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            Please check our events page for details on numerous exciting author visits scheduled for our fifth anniversary month. Alternatively, you can check out the store handout out abbreviated listing here.
            I will be hosting several of them, including one tonight, Friday, June 1 at Common Ground in Middleton. Two of my favorite Madisonians, Bill and Bobbie Malone, will be playing music from 6:00 to 6:45, and then at 7, I will interview Bill about the 50th anniversary edition of his seminal Country Music USA. The book serves as the guiding source for the forthcoming Ken Burns documentary “Country Music: An American Family Story.” Please join us Friday night. Bill and Bobbie are a hoot, and they will pick up their instruments and play again when Bill and I have finished chatting.
            I must reference one other event. Michael Cole, who was born in Madison and went to East High, and I have been long distance telephone pals for a decade now. He reached out from southern California, where he has long lived, when he was considering trying to write his autobiography, and we’ve stayed in touch.
            Michael got very famous very fast when “The Mod Squad” became a hit on ABC in the late 1960s.
            In his new book, I Played the White Guy, Michael relives that turbulent time, and more. I can’t wait to talk to him about it at 7 p.m. June 14th at Hotel RED.  We’re asking that you register online.