Shop Talk is an occasional feature in which fledgling independent booksellers take Q&Q into their stores and share their reasons for opening and what business has been like so far. 

Cross & Crows Books
2836 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, British Columbia

Nena Rawdah is no stranger to bookselling.

Her first job in the industry was as a data entry temp for famed Portland, Oregon, indie Powell’s Books in 1995. And she became the owner of a bookstore in that same city in 2005, running St. Johns Books for more than a decade before a problem with the building where it was located led to several weeks of intermittent closures in 2016.

“I had to take stock of whether I could pull off a move with my lease about to end,” Rawdah says. “I was also romantically involved with a Canadian who didn’t want to move south. It was time to make big decisions and I decided to come up here and start a new life.”

But Rawdah didn’t immediately return to bookselling after closing St. Johns Books and moving to Vancouver with her children, then tweens; instead she concentrated on her freelance editing business.

“The kids, now 20, had been needling me ever since we got here, asking if I’d open another bookstore, and pointing out vacant buildings in East Van that they thought would do well,” she says. “I didn’t think it would ever really happen, but I told them I would consider it if I thought I could do it right.”

After an unexpected attempt to buy an existing bookstore whose owner was retiring fell through, Rawdah opened Cross & Crows Books on July 12. She owns and runs the 1,250 square foot store, with occasional help from her spouse (who is also a financial partner in the store) and her children.

Rawdah recently spoke to Q&Q about what the first month of business has been like for Cross & Crows.

Why open Cross & Crows Books in 2023? What was it about your neighbourhood that inspired you to open the store? 

The story is complicated and is largely an accident of timing. I had worked briefly for a local bookseller before the pandemic, as a supplement to freelance editing. She liked my work, so when she began to plan her retirement she got in touch to ask if I’d buy her shop. She worked with me for several months on a financing process that fell through when the store basically didn’t appraise out. (The technicalities of banking don’t really measure its value, sad to say – it’s a good shop!) However, by that time I had secured my partner’s support, and we had taken out a small second mortgage. And dozens of my former customers in Portland, upon hearing I might have a crack at running a bookstore again, asked how they could help and when I would open a GoFundMe. So I did, and they donated over $20,000. When the plan for the existing store fell through, I ran the numbers to see if we could open from scratch with the capital we had and without the substantial debt we’d have taken on to get the other store. It pencilled out, roughly, and we were able to find a space that fit our budget in a neighbourhood we love – it’s where we lived when I first moved here to join my partner in 2016.

Beyond that, I’ve always felt that the nearby booksellers were missing opportunities to serve some of the people in the neighbourhood. As a bookseller, I saw that as money left on the sidewalk for chain and online retailers to pick up. As a queer person and a parent, I wanted to shift that balance a bit by centring queer voices and providing more diverse and current offerings for children. And I wanted to focus on the bookstore as a destination, a gathering place, and a space for leisure, with inviting places to sit and peruse rather than narrow aisles.

How has the community responded to the store?

Everyone has been super kind. Queer neighbours have been greeted by the queer section right at the front of the store, and they’ve mentioned feeling instantly welcome. Pretty much everyone walking in the door has said how glad they are that I’m here. Already, folks are planning visits here on their way to or from the nearby farmers’ market, and bringing their friends and siblings and kids and partners. I have to say, I’m grateful every time someone comes for a second visit.

How do you reach potential readers?

I’ve been hammering on the socials, especially Instagram. I have run a couple of small social media ads that were productive. There is a screen ad running at the beloved and wonderful Rio Theatre, a nearby art house and performance space. I had booths at two major queer events in the area over the summer and handed out coupons for the store, and I have just hosted the shop’s first author event – which was very well attended! And word of mouth has been powerful. So many people are telling their friends, which is about the nicest thing anyone can do for a baby bookstore. Next up is Tiktok. I’m working on getting more proficient with video.

What are your goals for the bookstore? Can you tell us a little bit about your special focus?

My first goal is to serve the queer community in East Van and beyond with a bookstore that centres queer voices and offers books for the whole person at every life stage. To me, this means being a general neighbourhood bookstore, because we are more than our sexualities and genders, but one with a strong, diverse, intersectional queer section that honours all our identities. I want queer writers to be easy to find in all sections, and I cross-shelve with intent. My people should not walk in and wonder if they’ll be able to find themselves represented. Beyond that, because we exist within families and many of us are parents or have loving connections with children in our lives, I want to offer a rich and inviting children’s section where children and families are celebrated in all their permutations. I want to create an inviting space that people will want to be in, and assure them of welcome.

I hope to create a destination bookstore, a place where people come to connect with books and writers and other readers, have a good conversation, share a story, and feel part of a community where the bookstore is part of what they have in common. I hope together we can create a place that is more than just a roomful of books with prices on them. Books are little capsules of culture and humanity and I hope people feel that when they come here.

What has been most surprising or unexpected about opening a bookstore or about your first month in business?

I’ve only been open a month and honestly, so far, I’m surprised at how well things are going. I came into this braced for more challenges. So far the worst thing that has happened is I went a bit over budget on some things, so I haven’t finalized my exterior signage yet. But people keep coming in: they leave with books; they look happy about what they found; we have lovely conversations. Authors and publishers have been in touch about booking readings. My gut instincts about which books to buy have been mostly proving out. The data graph out nicely – they keep looking positive and trending upward. It’s been really great!

To sum up, I’m incredibly lucky and grateful. I have the best job in the world. I’m getting a second shot at it when most people don’t even get to do it once. I’m diving in with a lot of joy and hope and wonderful support. I hope to bring my best to this neighbourhood and my people here.

This interview has been edited and condensed.