Features

Old Takoma Profile: Takoma Books

By Owen Praskievicz

In downtown Takoma Park, tucked away in the basement behind the row of shops on Carroll Avenue, resides the home of Takoma Books, which stands alone as the city's only used book store.

Takoma Books, which was first known as the Takoma Book Exchange, was created by its current owner Mark Elliott in 1999. The store is stocked with shelves of books, music, videos, and a few DVDs. Despite its hidden entrance, the store relies on its location for most of its business.

"Having the downtown is nice," said Elliott, who noted that more than 75 percent of his customers are Takoma Park residents. "If we didn't have a downtown I wouldn't exist, certainly not in a strip mall."

Elliott, who was in the Navy for 20 years before moving to Takoma Park, started the business with a love for books and a desire to be his own boss. He currently employs three part time workers and has started selling books over the internet. Other than 2003, when the United States went to war with Iraq, the store has been doing steady business.

"I'm not sure how they make it," said Denise Whitman of New Carrollton. "When you're often the only customer [at used book stores], you sort of wonder." Whitman, who was exploring Takoma Books for the first time, said she believes there is a mystique to Takoma Park that allows for many of its smaller stores to flourish.

"Takoma Park is the kind of place where people still sit out on their porches on warm days," Elliott said with a smile. "There aren't very many places like that anymore."

Even though he is the only employee on most days, Elliott does not work alone. He is accompanied by Tika, a chihuahua who likes to sleep belly up on a chair by the register, and Little Beard, a cat who mysteriously gets lost in the piles of books.

Elliott said he has no plans for expansion, but is worried that increased development in the area could hurt his business. With many apartments converting to condominiums, the business district could face similar changes in the future. Elliott said that if his store was affected, he would have to rely more heavily on his internet sales.

For now, however, his only concern is where to put all the books he takes in. The limited space of the store has forced Elliott to turn the bathroom into its own section. The stacks next to the toilet are labeled "Humor, Essays, and Odds and Ends."

"It's a good place for things that don't go anywhere else," Elliott said.