Why did my family buy the store?
Catholic Gifts and Books, located at 13397 Olive Blvd, Chesterfield, MO, began approximately eighteen years ago as an independent, family-owned and operated business. A couple of years later, the store was purchased by a local St. Louis family, who faithfully operated the store for sixteen years. In the Fall of 2023, I heard that they were looking for a buyer for the store, as they were ready to move on to the next chapter of their lives after nearly two decades. I was immediately intrigued, and suggested to my mother, who was a regular patron, that she and my father should purchase the store as a fun retirement project. She was not easily convinced, and we did not discuss the topic much further, as we figured surely someone else would buy it. By January 2024, the store had still not sold; I thought that perhaps my wife and I could buy the store and run it ourselves. However, with a newborn on the way, and already with full-time jobs, I thought that may be a little too ambitious. So again, I tabled the idea, figuring someone else would surely purchase this great store. However, by March 2024, there still was no buyer; after a bit of convincing, my parents agreed to be co-owners of the store. On June 1, 2024, we took over ownership of Catholic Gifts and Books, in the hopes of keeping the store a staple in the St. Louis Catholic community for many years to come.
Why was I interested in buying the store? In part, I suppose, because nobody else did. But mainly because I did not want to see it close…to see it become just another fatality in the Amazon dominated world. Sure, Amazon is great in some sense. I can get items at a reasonable price without having to leave the comfort of my house. I can eat chips, drink beer, watch tv, and order a book all at once while never having to put on respectable clothes and go outside. And it comes so quickly! Sometimes within a day! What a blessing...until it’s not. Today, to get everyday items, most of us go on our phones, most of which have the logo of a bite taken out of an apple (coincidence?), we place an order for a product - the manufacturer, distributor, and seller of which we don’t know. Then that product gets delivered by a person we don’t know, and in most cases, by a person whom we don’t even see. We are isolated beyond belief, and yet we call this prosperity. Think of the time we’re saving we say! Now we have more time to sit on our phones, look at pictures of people we don’t know, argue about politics with people we don’t know, and then order dinner, to be delivered by a person we don’t know. Most of us have largely lived like this for nearly a decade. And what do we have to show for it? We have extraordinarily high rates of suicide, depression, and drug use. We are friendless, spouseless, and childless. We are isolated beings who, in many cases, don’t even know the names of our own neighbors. Why would we? The only time we see them is for the two seconds we step out onto our porches to grab our Amazon packages.
Will these societal problems be solved by Catholic Gifts and Books in Chesterfield, MO remaining open? Probably not. And perhaps stores like this just can’t make it in our world today; perhaps we’ll close our doors in a year or two and admit defeat. However, at least for now, buying this store seemed like a worthy undertaking. In God’s providential plan, we all have a role to play, and buying this store - though it may only be the equivalent of one stone or bullet in the war against societal anonymity and isolation - seemed like it was a part of that plan. Perhaps by keeping this store open, we can play our small part in rebuilding communities throughout our country, communities where we know our neighbors, our butchers, our baristas, our bakers, and of course, our local book sellers.
On our first day in operation, on Saturday June 1, 2024, a woman was in our store when she received a call that a friend of hers had died unexpectedly. She came to the checkout desk and explained what had happened, and conveyed how grateful she was to have been in Catholic Gifts and Books at the time that she heard the sad news. We offered our prayers for her and for the repose of her friend’s soul, for which, I think, she was grateful. She then emphasized that those prayers likely would not have occurred had she been somewhere like Wal-Mart or Target. And those prayers certainly would not have occurred if she had been scrolling through Amazon on her phone at home. For me, this solidified the importance of not only Catholic Gifts and Books, but of all small businesses and retail establishments. Despite what Silicon Valley might tell you, humans are not meant to live lives fully immersed in technology or in the metaverse. We are body and soul composites, and we need real, physical things. Here at Catholic Gifts and Books, we have a real, physical store, with items that you can see, browse, and touch. We hope to see you in the store soon, where you can meet real people, converse with real friends, and build the Kingdom of God. May God bless you and your families!
Liam 9/7/2024
