Lexington, KY - A year ago, when Morris Book Shop owner Wyn Morris first learned of the possibility that a prominent Chevy Chase storefront might soon be available, his interest was definitely piqued. His store had just passed its two-and-a-half-year mark at its Southland Drive location, a place Morris and his employees were happy with, and had seen a good deal of success. But the inventory was starting to outgrow its 1,700 square feet, and rumors that the location's property managers would possibly be changing hands had left Morris uncertain of his future at that location.
Needless to say, the notion of a larger space in the foot-traffic-heavy locale in the heart of Chevy Chase excited Morris and his staff -- but circumstances left them hesitant to put all their eggs in that basket.
"It took about six months for anything to (fully) come together," Morris said of the High Street location that, as of October, the store now calls home. "It was on and off a number of times."
In fact, Morris added that there was a point when he was so disappointed in the possibility that it might not work, he wouldn't even discuss it.
"When it finally came together, it happened in less than a month's time that I had a lease and possession," Morris said. "With retail holiday upon us, we just had to move really, really fast."
With the help of some serious elbow grease from the shop's employees and the hard work of an extremely efficient team of contractors (led by Max Flannery of Flannery Construc-tion), the 3,000-square-foot space, which formerly housed the interior design company Hubbuch & Co., was completely transformed on an extremely tight schedule, with the actual business being closed for less than a week. When the doors opened the second weekend of October, Morris' team was able to reap the benefits of their hard work within the first 24 hours.
"Our calculated gamble of 'We'll get more foot traffic in Chevy Chase' played out astonishingly our first day here," Morris said. "I saw more strollers and people walking their dogs and people who've come from Southland to find us here, and people who didn't ever know we existed."
The first thing you might notice when you walk in the shop, a general interest bookstore with a heavy focus on Kentucky and children's books, is the striking new decor, marked by both rustic and whimsical designs. While a lot of furniture and detail from the former store were incorporated into the new space in some way, the overall design -- completely headed up by Morris' wife, Vicki Sword, and artist and interior designer Blake Eames -- required a complete overhaul of the space, and has imparted a new look that is at once bold and comfortable.
Eames and Sword, who happen to be best friends, knew that the ambience of the shop, which regularly hosts community readings, book signings and other events, was important, and finding the perfect marriage of warmth and unique style was their goal.
"The focus of this entire space is selling the books," Eames said. "But there's also kind of a community at Morris, so (we) wanted something also that was a really clean backdrop for that."
Sword - whose actual profession is not in design, but social work - and Eames had only collaborated on one design project prior to the store: the Bell Court neighborhood home of Sword and Morris. The women shared a longtime infatuation with mid-century modern design, but with this new project, they wanted to incorporate a warehouse-industrial vibe -
a bit unusual for a bookstore, but then Morris Book Shop isn't trying to be an average book store.
"Some of it was almost deliberately anti 'what bookstores look like in Lexington,'" Morris said. "We're not ever going to be -- nor do we want to be -- a Barnes & Noble or Waldenbooks. You go across the country, and at least the big bookstores all kind of look the same."
Working with the team of Max Flannery and Chris Henkel, who did the woodworking elements of the shop, including some new bookshelves and custom-designed reading cubbies in the kid's section, was "unbelievable," the designers agreed.
Despite the incredible rush to get the store up and running in less than a month's time, the team accomplished everything they set out to accomplish (with the exception of a few corners they are still putting the finishing touches on, such as Morris' office and the community conference room) -- and while getting books into customers' hands remains the shop's priority, the public's reactions to, and interactions with, the new space are greatly endearing.
Eames recalls her reaction to a photo Morris recently texted her of the children's reading cubbies she and Sword designed in action: "There were three kids snuggled in there leaning up against a pillow, reading," she said. "It's so silly but it brought tears to my eyes. It's something we worked so hard on -- to make it appealing to them, and to make them really read."