Owner: Linda Sherman-Nurick

Founded: 2012

Cellar Door Books is located inside Canyon Crest Town Center in Riverside, California.

Riverside is home to California’s famous orange groves and in fact, the first ever orange tree was planted in Riverside in the 1870’s. The Parent Washington Tree is still alive and thriving and you can even visit it off the 91-freeway. It is not too far from Cellar Door Books, a newer seed that is already growing to be a favorite community spot.

My Aunt and Uncle live in Riverside, where my Uncle works for BNSF railroad. I remember riding in the front seat of the locomotive when I was little and keeping the large, black rubber key that started its engine. Before he was a train master, my Uncle and my Aunt owned a Cafe- they are both amazing cooks. When I visit, I am always spoiled full to the brim with the most delicious homemade food. When they don’t cook at home, we will go to Town Center to browse the shops and listen to live music. It is also where I happened to come across Cellar Door Books.

This bookstore is tucked into the corner of Town Center’s beautiful shopping center, a white-washed wooden structure with archways covered in ivy. The store front has a purple door with an old fashioned iron handle. The light lavender spreads across the wooden beams inside the store, opening up the layout to the different pops of color from book designs.

Throughout the store you can find colorful hand painted signs for the different genres and even little monsters hanging about. Linda has wonderfully curated selections so make sure to take advantage of her expertise as well!

THE STORY

Linda was an English professor at Riverside Community College for over 10 years before committing to raise her kids full-time. Literature still remained one of the most important aspects of her life and has become important to her kids as well.

At the time, there were no independent bookstores in Riverside. After considering what her career might be if she wasn’t teaching full-time, she thought about the option of book-selling: she was already familiar with book culture and literature is ingrained in her blood.

After consulting her family, they made a decision together to open a bookstore in 2012. Not only did her family support her, but they believed it was an important thing to do for the community.

Even their dog, Nya, is part of the bookstore. You can find her sitting up front near the Current Events shelf!

Cellar Door Books has become a center for culture and conversation in Riverside and the surrounding communities. This is what Linda loves most about owning a bookstore; she sees first hand the responses to what is going on in the world. She gets to have genuine conversations with her customers on a daily basis, which is the difference between locally owned versus corporate.

“The best thing is the people you meet. It’s not like every other retail establishment, but you get really thoughtful and intelligent clientele who are genuinely interested in the products you are selling.”

If you aren’t familiar with the work of book-sellers and bookstore owners, don’t be fooled by the beautiful displays and clean, organized shelves- it is grueling work. Like any small-owned business, there is always more work that goes into it than you think. As customers, as an audience, we see the finished product: the beautiful shelves of books and the perfect finds we were looking for. But behind the scenes it is a laboring and difficult process to choose and acquire thousands of new titles, to contact publishers, manage feedback, and tailor selections for the store. As Linda says, it is the “most complicated and important thing they do.”

Many bookstore owners label it a “labor of love” because book-selling is not a lucrative business. And that is why it is so so important to support your independent bookstores by buying books there instead of through Amazon. As you will see when you visit Cellar Door Books, it has the personal feel of a locally owned business- it is a community that you are warmly and whole-heartedly welcomed into.

One of the coolest signs outlining the impact of buying books locally versus online !

NOTABLE SECTIONS

Come here for best “cellars” as well as indie and small press titles.

In addition, she hosts local authors, a spanish literature section, fantasy, cook-book, and a children’s section.

Another great feature of Cellar Door Books is the large table in the back for reading or working. Take advantage of the space, but don’t take advantage of the store by just using it for free wifi!