By Ryan Reed
Quaintly tucked away in the Fairway Shops, Rainy Day Books has survived and thrived on community and relationships for half a century, weathering the highs and lows of being a retail bookseller – like big box stores, e-readers and Amazon home delivery.
Having celebrated its 50th anniversary on November 4th, Rainy Day Books is considered one of the leading independent bookstores in the country, having been featured or mentioned in Fortune Small Business, The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. National Publishers Weekly profiled Rainy Day Books for having “set the gold standard” in the industry for author events, producing more than 100 a year. But, to Kansas Citians, it is simply our bookstore.
Vivien Jennings opened Rainy Day Books in 1975 with paperback stock culled from friends and garage sales. Jennings’ family helped clean out the space, and she sewed the shop’s window curtains herself. She made an arrangement with UMKC’s theater department to build shelves out of particle board. She added a little rocking chair and a simple counter, the shop opened, and Jennings was a bookseller. The initial business model allowed readers to trade their used paperbacks in for others they wanted to read, or just buy them outright for half price. As her client base expanded, bolstered by the loyalty of strong relationships, so, too, did her offerings.
For decades, Rainy Day Books has facilitated book groups, advocated for literacy and lured national authors to Kansas City. “We emphasized our strengths and continued to do everything we could to maintain the relationships with the customers,” Jennings says. In an age where our attention is capitalized upon and the constant content of screens keeps us detached, the value of an analog experience and a space where relationships and knowledge are cultivated cannot be overstated.
In May of 2022, Jennings and her longtime partner and chief operations officer Roger Doeren announced that the bookstore was for sale. Tyler Enders, Keith Bradley and Thomas McIntyre, co-owners of local retailer Made in KC, saw the community-building value of an independent bookstore with half a century of history in the area. They put together a 16-member ownership group and purchased Rainy Day Books in the hope of keeping the institution alive and well for the next 50 years. “It’s nice to have a place where people come to learn new ideas and to talk about new ideas,” Enders says.
This summer, Annie Krieg became Rainy Day Books’ general manager. “If there’s an ingredient that makes a transition easier,” Krieg says, “it’s that the people you work with are both good at and love their jobs.” Krieg is hopeful and excited about the bookstore’s future, specifically in its literacy work with the greater Kansas City community.
“When [loyal customers] show up like they did on independent bookstore day or for our author events, they are making the choice, the more expensive choice for their schools and their students,” says Krieg. “That really gives you energy to be like, ‘Okay, we can get creative. We can innovate. We can keep going.’ And we are both excited and humbled to do so.”
