Did you always expect to inherit the family business?

I worked at the bookstore growing up, but then I worked two years in the sciences before taking a job at a shrimp farm in Costa Rica. It was fun, but I valued opportunity more. I came back, not fully knowing I was taking over. I just charged in and started learning more about the business and making decisions. Suddenly, I’m old and in charge.

To what do you attribute the store’s longevity?

It’s definitely a combination of having a really good staff and our customer base. Florida has more retirees than most states. They have time to read and disposable income to spend on books. Also, my parents purchased the building a long time ago. I couldn’t imagine having a lease and having to renegotiate it, or having the lease up and wondering if we’re going to have to move.

Vero Beach has only 16,000 residents, yet the store often hosts big names.

We built up our reputation over many years. Publishers feel confident sending us authors, as we have lots of experience and we know what we’re doing, whether the event is small or large, like when we hosted George W. Bush, with a couple thousand people and lots of logistics and security. There’s also a lot of beach club communities in town; they’ll tell us that one of their residents has an author friend coming to give a talk and will order 50 books. Sometimes they’ll ask if the author can do an event at the store, too. Mitch Albom is coming in December, and that’s how that came about.