David Smotherman

Staff Photo by Gillian Bolsover Judy Brisson leaves Winder Binder Gallery Saturday followed by Charlotte Adkins. The store recently bought the neighboring book store and is merging the stores into one space.

Rather than see Frazier Avenue's only bookstore close, the owner of the store next door decided to buy it.

David Smotherman, owner of Winder Binder Gallery of Folk Art, bought A Novel Idea used bookstore in June on Chattanooga's North Shore.

"I think any community like this needs a cool little used bookstore," Mr. Smotherman said.

In the time since the sale was completed, he has merged the two stores into one space, which has turned out to be a win-win situation for him. The space his store had occupied for the past five years seemed to be getting smaller and smaller as his inventory and the number of artists' work he sold grew.

To make the two stores one, Mr. Smotherman took out 20 feet of the wall between them and put a new counter in the middle.

Mr. Smotherman declined to reveal the price he paid, but said he bought everything in the store including the massive inventory of used books. He said he will continue to accept books in trade, but he doesn't know when he will begin buying used books. Customers who had credit at the store are still eligible to redeem their credit.

He bought the store from Karen Poole, who had become notable in the North Chattanooga business network.

"Those of us who worked closely with Karen are sorry to see her go," said Tina Harrison, owner of BlueSkies on Frazier. Ms. Harrison said the combination of the two spaces is a wonderful solution for everybody.

"I'm happy about," she said. "It was a good solution."

Mr. Smotherman kept one employee from A Novel Idea who will continue to handle the book side of the business.

Both his gallery and his bookstore will keep separate names for now.

For months prior to the sale, A Novel Idea had stopped taking books in trade and had adjusted its hours. Mr. Smotherman said the recession had done significant damage to the store's business.

The two stores complement each other well, he said, especially since he already sold some books in his store. Winder Binder customers have been especially pleased with the change, he said.

"Most of my customers are excited because I have needed more space," he said.