Print is far from dead, owner of new Walls of Books store says

Andrew Oliver readily admits that he’s never operated a business, having worked in the heating and air supply industry for years. But he does have a passion for what he is now selling to Columbus-area residents.

Oliver, 52, recently opened Walls of Books at 4508 Armour Road. That’s near the intersection of Manchester Expressway and in the same space that was home to The Book House that closed earlier this year after a long run at the location.

“I’ve always wanted to have a bookstore all my adult life because I’m an avid reader,” Oliver said. “I always thought that one day I would retire and I’d have a bookstore to putter around in, the golden years sort of thing. Then all of the stars lined up and the opportunity arose.”

Oliver has hitched his business wagon to Warner Robins, Ga.-based Gottwals Books, a company founded in 2007 by Shane and Abbey Gottwals and now growing through franchises under the name Walls of Books. Overall, the combined Gottwals and Walls of Books has 16 locations, as far west as Atchison, Kan., as far north as Zanesville, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., and south to New Orleans. Ten of them are in Georgia.

“With Walls of Books as a franchise, I’ve got the backup,” Oliver said. “I’ve got the expertise of people who’ve been doing it for awhile, saying ‘change this’ or ‘yeah, you’re doing good,’ to kind of soothe my nerves.”

At its essence, Walls of Books is about putting books in the hands of people who enjoy reading them, then giving those individuals a way to read even more. The store’s “trade program” lets customers bring in their books to get a credit, which helps offset future purchases of used books. The credits max out at 50 percent off.

Oliver, who relocated to Columbus from Warner Robins, believes there is definitely a solid market for what his store offers, which is an inventory of 95 percent used books and a children’s area that includes books, educational toys and games, and a sitting area for parents. He has about 21,000 books currently, with the strong desire to add many more. The store doesn’t sell textbooks, but does buy them and resells to brokers.

Oliver also will tell you that printed books are far from dead, even with the proliferation of digital devices such as computers, tablets, e-readers and smartphones for reading news and information on the go.

“Digital took off like a rocket, but it leveled off and maybe even declined a little bit in the last couple of years, and it will never go away because it’s very convenient,” Oliver said. “But a lot of people, at least for the time being, have found that they prefer casual reading to be in a book ... a lot people have.”

National surveys back him up on that. While the number of people reading books through digital devices is growing, nearly two-thirds of Americans have read a printed book in the last year, according to a 2016 survey by Pew Research Center.

Specifically, 28 percent of people read an electronic book in 2016, the survey found, with 14 percent listening to an audio book. In contrast, about 65 percent put a paper book in their hands to do so.

“A growing share of Americans are reading e-books on tablets and smartphones rather than dedicated e-readers, but print books remain much more popular than books in digital formats,” the Pew Research report said.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Print is far from dead, owner of new Walls of Books store says."