On 2nd anniversary, Medina book store owner thankful for community support

By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 30 September 2023 at 10:35 pm

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Julie Berry, center, owner of Author’s Note Bookstore, poses with staff Erica Caldwell, left, and Olivia Marchese with a display in honor of the store’s second anniversary on Saturday.

MEDINA – Author’s Note, a bookstore at 519 Main St., reached the two-year milestone on Saturday, and owner and New York Times Best-Selling author Julie Berry decided to throw a big party.

The store was a beehive of activity from the time the doors opened, with cake and cupcakes for customers, new tee shirts, music and therapy ponies out back for children to color and dress up with bows.

One of the early customers was Rachel Frasier of Medina with her daughter Leona, 3.

“My husband is golfing so we are having a girls’ day out,” Frasier said. “We’ve been to the farmers’ market and now we’re just walking on Main Street.”

Frasier didn’t know about the ponies, but took Leona out back as soon as Berry told her about them.

The ponies belong to Lisa Smith of Wilson and are very gentle and receptive to children being in the pen with them. Children were given colored chalk, which washes right off, and had fun coloring their backs, braiding their manes or pinning ribbons and bows on them. Children were also encouraged to read the ponies a story.

Author’s Note also welcomed a local author during the day, Renee Lama, a Medina native and classmate of Berry’s. Lama’s book Last Call: Hotels, Restaurants and Bars, is a history of the service industry in the Medina area, and copies are flying off the shelf.

(Left) Julie Berry invites Rachel Frasier and daughter Leona, 2, to have a cupcake before going behind the store to interact with miniature therapy ponies. (Right) Therapy ponies from Lisa Smith of Wilson were part of Author’s Note second birthday celebration Saturday. Here, Bailey Seimar, 6, rear, colors a pony blue, while Xander Crockett, 9, tries to pin a bow on another pony.

Berry is thrilled with the success of her bookstore and can’t thank the community enough for its support.

“There’s a reason so many businesses fail in their first or second year,” Berry said. “I understand them better now than I ever did before. A small-town indie bookstore is an audacious experiment in a world where behemoth corporations maintain fleets of trucks and billions in state-of-the-art technology. We’re in this together and we feel your care for us and our survival daily. Every friend you send to Author’s Note allows us to remain here. If that’s not worth a party, what is?”

It was in April 2020 when Berry, living in California with husband Phil, learned the book shop in her home town was on the market.

She had previously told the Orleans Hub she couldn’t bear to think of her home town not having a book store.

So she started thinking about returning home.

“By late October we had a deal,” Berry said.

She and her family returned to Medina and began months of renovation to store. They had it ready for a soft opening in the spring, then celebrated with a full opening in the fall.

“It’s been an incredible journey,” Berry said. “The thing that moves me most is the incredible dedication of my team, which make Author’s Note a magical place.”

Salespeople and book buyers are Erica Caldwell and Olivia Marchese, who have been there since the store opened.

“I am also amazed at the response from the community and the love people feel for the book store,” Berry said. “They love our book clubs, they love our events and they love being here to celebrate these events with us.”