Popular independent SC bookstore opens 2nd spot in new town. Here’s where

Years before Greenville was listed on just about every ‘best of’ list that exists, Mayor Knox White had a list of his own — what Greenville needed to rebound.

Near the top was a bookstore.

He got his wish in M. Judson Booksellers, a store started by writer Ashley Warlick and communications expert June Wilcox 11 years ago.

It has grown to include a restaurant and author retreats, luncheons and readings. There are regular science cafes with speakers from various scientific communities, special nights for teachers and players of literary bingo. And for kids and lovers of kiddie lit, story time on the steps on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Now comes a second location or as Dolly Parton says in Steel Magnolia’s, “I’m a chain.”

M. Judson is opening a store June 1 at 109 North Main Street in Fountain Inn in what was most recently an ice cream parlor.

They are joining a trend of more and more independent bookstores across the country. The American Booksellers Association said just last year there were more than 400 new bookstores.

M. Judson is named for Mary Camilla Judson, known as the Lady Principal at the Greenville Baptist Female College in the 1800s. The college became Greenville Woman’s College and ultimately merged with Furman University.

The bookstore owners call her their patron saint, whose name had strong ties to the past as well as who they are now, especially as women.

“Pretty quickly, out of the research pages at Greenville County Library, Mary Camilla rose to the surface,” the bookstore’s web page says.

The Greenville store is located in one of the city’s most imposing historic buildings, Beaux-Arts style, built in 1918. It was once the Greenville County Courthouse and then Family Court.

Warlick said she and Wilcox considered expanding to college towns without an independent bookstore and they did, to Auburn, Alabama, where they started Auburn Oil Company Booksellers, but the distance proved difficult.

Then they looked closer to home. Fountain Inn became a focus a couple of years ago.

Located in the southern tip of Greenville County and northern Laurens County, the city of about 11,000 is growing rapidly, especially with young families.

Its tree-lined main street features brick storefronts, filled with meeting spaces and restaurants, including a coffee shop and one with a rooftop bar. There is a food hall behind the bookstore and the splash pad run by the city’s recreation department recently opened.

The kid’s section of M. Judson Fountain Inn will be a highlight, Warlick said.

She said there are a lot of original details in the building, including a pressed tin ceiling and polished concrete floor. At 2,200 square feet, it’s slightly less than half the size of the Greenville store.

The art installation of discarded books at the Greenville store will be replicated in Fountain Inn.

As will be the core of the business — listening to what people want — and a staff of readers who can help people find just the right book.

“Staff picks are essential to what we do,” Warlick said.

Warlick is the author of four novels, most recently “The Arrangement,” published in 2016. She is working on a thriller and has plans to resume work on a novel based in Greenville she started before the pandemic threw her life and the bookstore’s future into disarray.

She said she learned her biggest lesson on Day 2 of M. Judson, and she remembers it every day.

“How important flexibility is,” she said. “Pay attention to your people and your community. This is a business that should be joyous. I’ve learned to be excited about the opportunities to grow.”