For Children's Bookstore, an Unhappy End

Paul said she appreciated the gesture. "We did get offers of help, but it was too far gone for my husband and I," Paul said. "Maybe by not having A Likely Story around for a while, when a children's bookstore does come back, maybe people will appreciate it more. Actions have to be behind words."

Landrum said that in the past year, 10 small businesses in Alexandria have closed. Some, such as the Cash Grocer on King Street or a piano store on N. St. Asaph Street, closed because the owners wanted to retire. Others, like the ReMix in Del Ray, relocated. With a hotel slated to go up across the street from A Likely Story, Landrum said she isn't sure what kind of business might want to locate there. "Another bookstore?" she said. "Who knows. But the odds are slim. Independent booksellers are few and far between."

Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children, where, until recently, Paul served as treasurer on the board of directors, said independent bookstores have had it rough in the era of chains, big-box stores and discount online retailers. When the association was founded in 1984, there were three times as many independent bookstores specializing in children's books, McLean said.

"Independent bookselling has the narrowest margin of any industry outside perishables. A good bookstore doing its job will be lucky to make 3 percent a year net profit," she said. "Many bookstores who don't watch their numbers very carefully can easily flip into the red. Booksellers are squeezed. They don't have any room for error."

A New Chapter

With Sabrina fed, Paul picked up the latest book she's reading: "The Castle Corona," by Sharon Creech. "It's a fairy tale," she said. "Good escape." She just bought "Counting Christmas" and "Skippyjon Jones" to read to her daughter. If she has learned anything from this experience, she said, it's that she is passionate about books, independent business and children. What she'll do with that, she said, is something she'll have to figure out.

On her wall hangs a hand-painted sign: "Home Is Where Your Story Begins."

On her coffee table, a card: "Don't Look Back."