Mary Freeman is living her dream.
The grandmother of six has been said she has been an avid book reader and lover "since she was a teenager." Last month, she said she realized her dream when she opened A Cat's Tale, a used book store at 1512 Joliet St. in Dyer.
It wasn't hard to get the store's first inventory set up. Freeman had more than 1,000 books at her home to serve as the starting stock.
"I always read three or four books at a time," Freeman said. "It's my passion. I have been a member of many, many book clubs over the years. I decided to make a business out of my passion."
Freeman said she invested about $5,000 of her own money to make the empty storefront top-notch.
"My experience with used book stores was that they were all dusty, musty places," Freeman said. "So I decided I was going to do it up right. The books might be used, but the business is all new."
Freeman recruited her two adult sons, Shawn and Craig, who provided labor for the "home-cooking discount." They made it affordable to paint the store, replace the carpeting and install all new bookshelves, Freeman said.
Freeman now has about 2,000 books for sale, and her library is growing daily. She does not buy books from customers, instead taking book donations in return for discounts on purchases.
Freeman is focusing on expanding her children and teen sections.
"I am getting a lot of parents coming in with their children," she explained. "Parents who love to read are working very hard to pass that on to their children. Because kids outgrow books quickly, a used book store can provide value to satisfy tight budgets and hungry minds."
Freeman works with a pair of book locators to find specific books or authors that customers request. That part of the business is slowly expanding as customers learn about her services, she said.
"We broke even in May, and I'm a little bit in the black this month," Freeman announced. "As my customer base expands, I hope to be able to offer more services."
And the name?
"I have two cats at home," she explained. "I'm as much a cat person as I am a book person."
