On the Smell of Books, and Bookstores

If you’ve been in this business for awhile, you know there’s nothing like walking into a bookstore or book warehouse and breathing in the smell of books. Perhaps you’re one of the people who cracks open a recent arrival to the middle page and inhales deeply.

One of the units from Scentsy — not the one we were given — features a religious design.

Christian bookstores are also gift stores, so years ago we decided to buy some eucalyptus and spread it throughout. It overpowered the smell of books, but created the atmosphere we were intending.

Periodically, these need to be replaced, so as I was mentioning this to a customer last year, she said she was a Scentsy products dealer and would donate a unit to the store in exchange for us posting her business card. Deal.

But then there was this. Our roving reporter Tim Underwood (!) turned this up on the Facebook page of a newly opened store:

When I made the decision to move forward with opening this store, I followed my heart and incorporated a lot of my very own personal touches in the decor. I like my home to have a warm, cozy feel and I wanted the same for my store. My home also almost always has some kind of fresh fragrance flowing through it.

I want to express a very sincere apology to everyone who was uncomfortable with the fragrance I had in the store and I am very grateful that it was brought to my attention that not everyone shares my feelings when it comes to scents.

All scented products have now been removed from the store, and prayerfully you will find your next visit even more pleasant than the last…

Now I’m wondering if our store has ever driven anyone away. Both my key employee and my wife have sensitivities to scents — a growing allergy issue in North America — so I think the particular products we’re using are keeping us on the conservative side of the equation. But it’s something I need to be — pardon the pun — more sensitive about…

…This problem also exists at Church. My wife has guest-posted an article about this on my blog a couple of times. This was the most recent.