As Bookstores Make a Comeback, an Alpharetta Owner Bets on Something Amazon Can’t Deliver

A new independent bookstore on South Main Street is preparing for its official Alpharetta grand opening, built around a simple idea: buying a book can still be more than clicking a button.

Main Street Bookstore & Gifts, at 348 S. Main Street, Suite A, is owned by Ossiereen “Ms. Ojay” Jones, who has worked in the Alpharetta area for nearly 30 years.

She has watched the city change around her, from the growth of Windward to the arrival of Avalon and the transformation of downtown Alpharetta. Now, after years of working in the community, she has opened a bookstore on the same street where she has long shopped, eaten and banked.

“During all those years, I never imagined that one day I would have the opportunity to own a bookstore here,” Jones told North Atlanta Star.

The store is preparing for its official city grand opening Oct. 2.

A Different Kind of Bookstore Comeback

Main Street arrives at an unusual moment for bookselling.

After years when online shopping, e-books and major retail closures appeared to threaten the traditional bookstore, Barnes & Noble is expanding again. The company says it has grown from fewer than 600 bookstores in 2023 to more than 700 and plans more than 60 openings during 2026. In metro Atlanta, the chain opened a new Edgewood store this summer and announced additional locations in Toco Hills and Peachtree Corners. Barnes & Noble Inc.

But Jones does not see the resurgence of a giant bookseller as necessarily bad news for a small independent store.

“I don’t look at Barnes & Noble simply as competition; I see an opportunity for partnership,” she said.

Jones said the two kinds of bookstores can serve customers differently. Large retailers have purchasing power, inventory and resources that small shops cannot easily duplicate. Independent bookstores can compete on personal service, familiarity with customers and specialized offerings.

“My job was to identify what makes us different and build on it,” she said, pointing to personalized service, community relationships, special orders and Main Street’s in-house Bible imprinting.

She has even begun building a relationship with the local Barnes & Noble.

“When more people are buying books, reading, and visiting bookstores, the entire bookselling community can benefit,” she said.

What a Website Cannot Do

Jones is cautious about saying that people suddenly want physical books more than they did several years ago.

What she sees instead is a desire for a different shopping experience.

“Independent bookstores can offer personalized care and an at-home feeling,” she said. “In a very large store, it can be easy to get lost, while a smaller bookstore has the opportunity to know its customers, listen to what they need and help them find exactly what they’re looking for.”

That distinction may help explain why physical bookstores can survive even when almost any title can be ordered from a phone.

Jones calls online shopping something of a “mirage.”

A cover and description may look right on a screen, she said, only for the customer to wait for delivery and discover the book is not what they expected. Then comes a return, another order and another wait.

Inside a bookstore, the decision works differently.

“You can see the book, feel it, ask questions and walk out with exactly what you want,” Jones said.

The store’s current selection includes general books, children’s titles, educational material, Bibles, devotionals, journals, gifts and church supplies. Main Street also says it plans community programming including story times, author events, workshops and literacy activities. Main Street Bookstore & Gifts

From Lawrenceville to Alpharetta

Jones’ path to South Main Street began elsewhere.

In 2021, she used her savings to open Rejoice Christian Books & Gifts in the Lawrenceville-Snellville area. She said she had noticed a need, particularly among older customers who missed having a local place to buy faith-based books and gifts.

Then an opportunity emerged this summer to bring the business to Alpharetta.

For Jones, the decision connected her new business to a place that had already been part of her life for decades.

“This summer, when the opportunity opened for me to bring my bookstore back to my working roots in Alpharetta, there really wasn’t a question,” she said.

Now comes the harder part familiar to almost every independent retailer: making sure people know it exists.

“Now comes the next part of the journey,” Jones said, “letting the community know that Main Street Bookstore & Gifts is here and becoming part of the city that I have watched grow for nearly three decades.”