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Stories and Anecdotes
The following material is for those who might find an interest in the origin of Chamblin Bookmine, and perhaps some
interest in some of the events during the history of the bookstore.
Getting Started:
At 1:00 pm, Sunday, July 20, 1976, Ron Chamblin opened the bookstore (then called the Bookmine) at the 1,300 sq. ft.
location of 4148 Herschel St., which is somewhere between the Avondale and the Ortega areas of Jacksonville.
However, to be totally honest, Ron did not start from scratch because he salvaged a burnt-out operation being
operated out of a house on 4551 Shirley Avenue by Cy Crawford. Cy’s operation was called “Crawford Bookmine”.
Cy had been operating a house-bookstore for decades at various locations in Jacksonville. Some will remember the
“Red Buddha” in Riverside, and the place on north Edgewood. Also, Crawford’s was formerly located behind the
Roosevelt Mall in a little yellow house. Returning to the fire, apparently a couple of neighborhood kids did not
have much to do one weekend, so they set fire to Cy’s house-bookstore on Shirley Ave, ruining almost all of the
books. Even though one quarter of the roof was burned through, the house was repaired, and currently houses an
accounting firm.
Prior to the fire event, Ron had been a customer of Cy’s, and Cy had agreed to sell the bookstore operation to
Ron for the sum of $10,000. After the fire, Ron was thinking about offering perhaps $5,000 for the burnt-out bookstore including
the salveagable books, the phone number, the use of the name “Bookmine”, and the ability to place a sign on Cy’s property stating
“The Bookmine will re-open at 4148 Herschel St. on July 20th…. Save your trade-ins.” The figure was increased
from $5,000 to the amount of $7,500 at the suggestion of Cy’s nephew, Don Tappin, of Tappin Book Mine,
who was graciously and quite understandably, looking after Cy’s interests, as Cy was slowing down, having been
around since 1899. Ron agreed to this figure, and agreed to pay Cy $500 up front, and $100 per month interest-free
on the balance. This arrangement worked for Cy because he needed some slow income -- and because Ron was broke.
Ron spent a few nights at the burnt-out house attempting to salvage as many books as possible for the opening at
the new location. Cy occasionally helped Ron move books to the new location, as he wanted the new venture to succeed.
Ron recalls that it was Cy who broached the idea of Ron buying him out during one of Ron’s nightly visits to
Crawford Bookmine. Because there were no used bookstores on the west side of the city, Ron sensed that there
was potential and a demand that was not being met. At that time, there were only two large “new” bookstores
in the area; The Paperback Booksmith in the Roosevelt Mall, and Almar Bookstore, located in the Normandy Mall.
Keeping his old job for safety, and working the new venture on Sundays, Mondays, and evenings, Ron hired an
acquaintance to work the store in his absence. During the first few days, the store began to show some promise,
with sales of $20 to $50 per day, as the wonderful and generous customers flooded the bookstore with beautiful
un-smoked book trade-ins. During the first few months, many customers purchased some of the smoke-damaged books
salvaged from the house. Even now, after over twenty-five years, occasionally one of the old smoke-damaged paperbacks,
stamped with “Crawford Bookmine”, will show up as a trade-in. Ron sensed that most customers really wanted
the operation to survive, as they were generous in their trade-ins, wagering that they would eventually be able
to use the credit when they needed books.
Being basically ignorant about the book business, Ron learned primarily from customer feedback and used common
sense, always being attentive to the wants and needs of the customer. The weeks went by. However, when Ron
visited the bookstore several times unannounced to check on things, the one employee was found too often to be
reading when he should have been working. Realizing that the operation needed tender care and intensive work if
it was to survive and prosper, Ron fired the worker after about two months of operation, quit his job, and took over
as sole worker until his first employee was hired about five years later. The bookstore is currently running lean
with only six fulltime (including Ron) and one part-time employee.
The following events and stories related to Chamblin Bookmine might be of interest to some readers.
Use of the word “Bookmine” problem:
This interesting event occurred after several months of operation. Ron did not necessarily want to prefix his
name to the “Bookmine”, so he called the business “The Bookmine”. Ron was surprised to receive a letter from
an attorney hired by Tappin Book Mine, which is located at the Beaches, making an argument that he must cease
using the word “Bookmine” in the name of the business. Ron ran to Cy Crawford (Don Tappin’s Uncle), from whom he
purchased the business, and both Ron and Cy visited another attorney’s office to determine what to do. Apparently
one of Tappin’s reasons for his action was that Ron’s use of the single name “Bookmine”, without a preceding proper
name, might have made Tappin Book Mine sound like a subsidiary of the Bookmine. Ron really did not want to give
up the word “Bookmine”, so while in the attorney’s office, Ron asked the attorney, “What is the most important factor
that we have going for us in this thing?” The attorney pointed to Cy Crawford and said, “That man right there.”
Of course, one item Ron purchased from Cy was the use of the name “Bookmine.”
In order to compromise on the situation, Ron agreed to prefix the bookstore name with “Cham’s”, short for Chamblin,
and after a few months, after some people thought that Ron was Chinese, he reluctantly prefixed it with “Chamblin.”
In any case, “Chamblin Bookmine” was less confusing. The letter from Tappin’s attorney surprised Ron, as he did not
realize that there was any problem at all regarding the name. Wonder if Ron would have responded with the same
compromise if Tappin had simply phoned him and explained his concerns and wishes? Of course, both bookstores have
been quite successful, and Ron says that Tappin and he have been on friendly terms since.
Rotating Shelves:
Some customers remember the eleven rotating shelves Ron designed and installed during the early 80’s to increase the
number of paperbacks that he could stock in the rather small 1,300 sq. ft. location. It was basically a motorized
rotating shelf, much like a conveyor system, that allowed for books to be “stored” from the floor to the ten-foot
ceiling, and then placed in the window as the customer operates a switch. Each assembly had twenty metal shelves,
each five feet long, and attached to chains which moved the shelves up to the ceiling, and then around the rear of
the assembly to the floor, in a continuous movement, as desired by the customer. The customer could place at the
window, at eye-level, a desired author or category. These eleven shelf assemblies allowed Ron to stock many more
paperbacks in the bookstore, perhaps giving him the space that would normally be achieved by adding another 400 sq. ft.
to the bookstore. The shelves served as a “sponge” for paperbacks until he moved to the second location. The elderly
customers liked the shelves because they could place the titles at eye-level for browsing.
Ron “Thought” He Was Buying a Building:
The bookstore moved to 4304 Herschel St. in 1987 to occupy a 3,000 sq. ft. building. Currently, the Museum of
Southern History occupies this building. The move to 4304 Herschel St. allowed Ron to discover that even some
professionals such as real estate brokers, attorneys, and professional photographers (building seller), can be quite
deceptive and engage in trickery when they suspect that the individual with whom they are dealing is trusting and
assumes that everyone is up and up. Fundamentally, Ron thought he was purchasing the building located at
4304 Herschel St. because the documents signed at the attorney’s office indicated so, the “seller” stated so, and the
real estate broker stated so. This being the case, Ron placed as down payment to the “seller” the sum of about $25,000,
and then paid the “seller” a monthly sum. Assuming that the building was “his”, Ron set about converting the
structure from a run-down garage to a nice building. He poured a new concrete floor, blocked-in four large garage bay
doors, installed wall studs and sheetrock over the inside, and most expensive of all, completely redesigned the roof
system for better drainage, removing most of the old roof structure, and replacing it with a metal roof. Ron did
much of this work himself.
But get this. The building was not Ron’s, as the loan papers might have stated. The seller actually did not own
the building. The seller was buying the building from another person, who did not know anything about the new contract. The seller owed a handsome sum to the real owner, so in order to achieve ownership of the building, Ron would have had to pay off the real owner also, before he could get a clear title. The “seller” began to have serious difficulties with one of his business ventures, and therefore he was having difficulty in paying the real owner. And get this, in spite of his knowledge that Ron could never achieve clear title for the building unless he paid off the real owner, the “seller” continued to keep Ron in the dark as to the situation, and demanded more money from Ron, which Ron paid because he assumed that the payments were working toward eventual ownership.
When Ron discovered the truth of the situation, he stopped making any payments to anyone, and just stayed at the
location “free” for several months until he found the larger 15,000 sq. ft. building of his current location.
The real owner, not receiving any payments from the “seller”, was quite reasonable in allowing Ron to occupy the
building for several months while he looked for a larger space. Ron’s trust of the individuals involved cost him many
thousands of dollars. An expensive school of learning. Rule? Get a title search, or insurance. One would have
thought that this “title search” would have been accomplished by the real estate broker, or the attorney handling the
closing. Surely the attorney knew that there was no title search. Surely the real estate broker knew that there was
a “real” owner involved in the “sale” of the property. What did the attorney know? Surely he knew that all real
estate deals “must” have a title search to make sure that there are no other parties claiming ownership of the property
involved.
In any case, Ron recalls smiling when he discovered that because of other illegal acts and unscrupulous
behavior, the real estate broker lost his license a couple of years later. As for the attorney, Ron is not sure if
he is still in business -- or if he was ever caught in something -- given his ability to “forget” to even mention
something as important as a title search in a contract for which he was responsible for closing.
As for the “seller” -- although Ron was advised that he could do well in filing suit to recoup many thousands of
dollars, Ron never did, not wishing to exert the energy or time, not wishing to cause the “seller” any more financial
difficulties. But Ron suspects that this individual, who is still in business, cannot hold his head up high when
confronted with memories of what he did in the way of deception toward one of his neighborhood businessmen. Lesson
learned. People, all kinds of people, professionals and laymen, can and will steal from you in all sorts of ways if
you are not on guard. But there are many people that you could trust with your life savings without worry.
Nighttime Break-in:
The break-in, along about 1995, was interesting, as Ron was able to hold the visitor via a short-barreled 12-gauge
shotgun until the police came. Ron was in the rear of the bookstore, sleeping over as he did occasionally.
About 2:30 am, he heard a series of loud bangs, thinking that it was the dumpster truck. On about the fourth bang,
he heard broken glass hit the floor. Ron thought “The bastards are coming in.” Grabbing the shotgun,
Ron crouched down running to meet the visitor, or visitors, from the darkness of aisle eleven, totally naked,
not even a watch or a ring, as he had no time to dress. As he ran, Ron wondered if someone, perhaps one of his
serious readers, might have had a bookaholic attack, and might need some assistance in finding a title.
But when Ron reached the counter area, still crouching, he found the visitor turning the register around. Ron
immediately placed the shotgun in the visitor's face -- a few nice words to the visitor -- visitor startled -- hands in air. Because the
visitor was very nervous about having the barrel pointing directly at him, he many times repeated “don’t shoot,” as
he attempted to avoid the barrel by a continuous slow movement away from the line of fire. And as Ron followed him,
they did a sort of slow dance, ending up near the front window, as they waited for the police. Ron learned that he
should have put the visitor face down on the floor so that the barrel could be removed from the visitor, and so that
they could both be more relaxed while waiting.
The visitor attempted to bluff Ron by repeating, “watch out for Fred… he’s in the back.. he has a gun.” Besides
tendering the short-barreled 12-gauge shotgun, Ron also had a small derringer trained on the visitor, which as Ron
recalls, didn’t seem to impress him much. When the police arrived, Ron’s luck would have it that the first police
person coming down the sidewalk was a policewoman. Ron doesn’t remember what the policewoman did, but suspects that
she might have left early because of the no-clothes thing. The visitor was urged to exit through the window he had
broken only minutes before. They put him down, then cuffs, then back seat. Ron ran to the rear to put his clothes
on so that the policewoman could return if she wanted to. The police had a dog clear the building of anyone else
since the visitor had attempted to bluff that “Fred” was in the back. They gave the visitor a free ride to the city.
He was on probation, so he got good jail time.
The police arrived within minutes after Ron
phoned them. They were quite efficient and pleasant on the project. For the rest of the night, Ron slept near the
broken window.
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