Cozy, Consistent Cornerstones

A Trio of Women-Owned Bookstores and the Role they Play in our Community

When Kristi Gibson first opened Magpie Bookshop in Catskill just over ten years ago, it was, from her point of view, an act of necessity. 

“The entire county didn’t have a bookstore at that point,” she remembers, “and I felt like I couldn’t live long-term in a town without a bookstore. So I decided to start one.” 

Gibson, a former librarian and mapmaker, had been living in the village part time for six years at that point – but when her parents retired in the area, she decided to make a permanent move. 

Her primary career, until then, had been as a professor of geography at the University of Connecticut, with a specific focus on urban studies and community development.

 “I basically went from teaching about those things to actually just doing them,” Gibson laughs. “Running this bookshop has always been a bit of a social experiment for me.”

Across the river, in Hudson, Kelley Drahushuk, owner of The Spotty Dog Books & Ale, knows firsthand how community engagement goes hand-in-hand with selling books. A native of Hudson, she originally opened an art supply store on Warren Street with her husband, Alan.

“We were asked many times, ‘where is the bookstore in this town?,’” she remembers. “It was Alan who said that we should open one of our own.”

Skeptical at first, Drahushuk was convinced to take the leap by her uncle, Neil Evans, who offered his property at the abandoned Albany Pump Station as a store location.

He also had the bright idea of selling beer alongside books. 

“I guess it has worked out,” Drahushuk muses, all modesty. Spotty Dog Books and Ale will be celebrating its twentieth anniversary next year.

As far as bookstores-as-institutions go, however, it’s hard for any business to top Chatham Bookstore – which has been operating in the Hudson Valley for more than forty years. Its current proprietor, Sharon Weinberg, picked up the mantle when the store’s former owners listed it for sale during COVID-19.

“We’ve had a home in the Chatham area for over twenty-five years,” says Weinberg. “My daughter Amy was finishing up her MFA in creative writing, and I thought running the bookstore could be a fun project for us to do together.”

The pandemic was a challenging time for each of these three booksellers, in distinct ways. For Weinberg, it meant aligning her newly-acquired business with the re-emerging needs of her community: “There was hardly any in-store shopping, so there was really nowhere to go but up!” 

Elsewhere, Kelley Drahushuk endured a major setback at The Spotty Dog: just as her staff was preparing to reopen for appointment-only visits, a pipe burst in the shop’s bathroom and flooded three floors. “We had to trash so many ruined books, but our key inventory was spared.” 

Drahushuk emphasizes the supportive role her neighbors played during those trying months.  “It wasn’t easy, but it could have been much worse.”

Meanwhile, across the river, Kristi Gibson seized the opportunity to expand Magpie’s collection. She used the months of lockdown to flesh out her inventory, bringing in an additional five thousand books. She estimates that in a year or two there will be about 20,000 books in her Catskill store. 

“I knew that I would get to the point eventually that the shop sort of grows into itself,” she says. “It all comes down to building and engaging with people who like to read.”

This self-sustaining business model is due in part to the shop’s secondhand charm. Magpie Bookshop is, in Gibson’s words, “a bread-and-butter used bookstore,” featuring printed materials of all kinds – plays, poetry, literary fiction, academic press books, and so on  – usually marked at less than half their cover price.

“It’s really a store for readers,” she posits. “Not necessarily for collectors. I want my bookstore to be well-stocked with things that people want to read.”

Over at Chatham Bookstore, Sharon Weinberg is of a similar mind: she offers all the latest bestsellers, plus, as she puts it, “all the books you didn’t even know you needed.

“We embrace all genres, all styles, and all readers. For us there’s no such thing as a ‘guilty pleasure’ read.” 

Kelley Drahushuk highlights the importance of making space for marginalized authors, too. “I’m constantly striving to represent diverse viewpoints – different genders, ethnicities, religions – not only in what I sell overall, but in what books I face out and display.”

Inclusiveness is a shared priority for each of these businesses, or small-business-women. What role, I ask, do you see your bookstore playing in the community?

“We strive to be that ‘third place’ in peoples’ lives,” says Drahushuk, “meaning, a place in the world that’s not home or work, where you can connect with others over a shared interest.”

Sharon Weinberg echoes this sentiment. “We were so lucky to inherit a business that was already a cornerstone of Chatham. A bookstore is a place to buy books, of course, but it’s also a means of connection. 

“We want to remain that same cozy, consistent indie bookstore,” she says, “while also adapting to the needs of our diverse and ever-changing community.” 

Consistency is the name of the game for Kristi Gibson, too: “I always knew I didn’t want Magpie to grow past the point where I couldn’t handle it by myself. For me, this is both a business and a lifestyle.

“I’m just trying to have a nice, modest community-service space here for decades to come.”

Magpie Bookshop is located at 392 Main Street in Catskill. It is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 to 5, and Sundays from 11 to 4. Check out Kristi’s Instagram here.

The Spotty Dog Books & Ale is at 440 Warren Street in Hudson. It’s open from noon to 5pm every day of the week, and stays open until 8pm Wednesday through Saturday. Order books and check out their beer selection on their website.

The Chatham Bookstore is located at 27 Main Street in Chatham, and is open Monday through Saturday from 11 to 5, Sundays from 11 to 4. Learn more about upcoming events here.