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Fireside expanding into empty storefront

Jan. 19, 2007

By Russell Stigall

Frontiersman

PALMER - Fireside Books is about to become the &#8220War and Peace” of the Palmer independent bookstore scene.

It's getting big.

Fireside is expanding 13 feet to take over the entire building at 720 B South Alaska St. Owners David Cheezem and his wife, Melissa Behnke, have planned the expansion since last

summer.

Though they had many reasons to expand, Cheezem said the most important reason was basic.

&#8220We've got a lot of books,” he said.

Cheezem had deeper reasons, too.

&#8220I've been doing a lot of philosophizing with myself,” Cheezem said, &#8220about what we want to be in the long term.”

Fireside should be the type of store that makes good use of the space it has without being crowded, he said.

&#8220To be truly independent, we have to provide more than books, we have to provide an experience,” he said.

Part of the experience will be a new arrangement for the 5-year-old bookstore. With the new look, customers still will be able to come in and browse Fireside's 15,000 titles, Cheezem said.

&#8220The main body of our customers enjoy stumbling upon a book, one they didn't know was out there,” Cheezem said.

Customers also will get a new taste of book-related events.

Cheezem envisions the Bad Coffee Lecture Series - its name derived from Fireside's Web site: www.goodbooksbadcoffee.com. Local speakers would give presentations about books or authors they've delved into.

April is National Poetry Month. Cheezem is planning a Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson look-alike contest at the Palmer Depot. It will accompany a poetry slam of the writers' work.

Fireside also will devote some of the extra room to back office space. An expanded shipping room will allow for larger orders, Cheezem said, as well as some space set aside to work on Fireside's Web site.

Cheezem said he wants regular updates on the site with possible podcasting and blogs, and &#8220all that great new exciting stuff,” he said.

Fireside also will feature an expanded children's section.

&#8220I don't know if it will double in size, but it will be close to that,” Cheezem said.

New artwork will decorate Fireside's new windows. Local artist Jenny Bayton has created a reading-themed image with a woman smiling at a book and frowning at a cup of Real Alaskan Ugly Coffee.

Cheezem and Behnke first thought of starting Fireside while Cheezem was at UAA working on a master of fine arts degree in creative writing. When he finished, the couple decided they would open a bookstore if space was available in Palmer.

&#8220It was just the right time and place, and we jumped,” Cheezem said. &#8220And there was water in the pool.”

Fireside's renewal looks to be the norm for quaint downtown Palmer.

The Sellick building is going through a remodeling, and two new hair salons are moving into the area - B Bella and Wild Rose.

Displaced by the Sellick renewal, Denise Statz's Nonessentials will be relocating to the corner of Arctic and North Colony.

Though the move is difficult for Statz, she said a remodeled Sellick building will be good for Palmer in the long run.

Statz has run Nonessentials for five years. The fifth year is very important for a business, she said, and it is tough moving at this time.

&#8220All I care about is our good customers can find us,” she said.

Contact Russell Stigall at 352-2267 or russell.stigall@frontiersman.com