A few months after Heather Hall decided her savings, which she once intended to put toward law school, would be better used to open a bookstore in her hometown, she did some “back of the napkin” math.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hall, a lifelong Normanite in her 40s, knew that she would not do well at online law school and, realizing her elementary- and middle school-aged kids needed her, mocked up a business plan.
As a kid, Hall always had her nose in books. She said her love for reading inspired a business plan for a bookstore.
“All I would need to do is train the community, to teach the community how important it is to buy local for this one item,” Hall said, “because books create community, create culture. Because of those things, buying locally is super critical.”
Then, Hall’s “back of the napkin” math estimated the number of books she would need to sell every month to be successful. That discovery, along with market research that showed Norman needed another bookstore and knowing OU hosted the Neustadt Festival every year, led to the opening of Green Feather Book Company in August 2022.
Today, that same “back of the napkin” math shows Green Feather, like many small businesses in Norman, is struggling like never before.
Hall divided the store’s overhead costs by the average price of the new and used books, which she said the store sells in relatively even amounts. She called it “back of the napkin” math because, while not precise, it could be used to find a quick, usable metric for sales performance. She determined the store must sell 1,600 books per month to break even.
As of September, the bookstore had sold about 1,000 books per month since the start of the year.
“We have not made our goal once this year, not once,” Hall said, “which is a little bit scary when you're hitting year three and you're supposed to be starting to look like you're heading toward the black.”
‘One shot’
In August, Green Feather made a Facebook post of a picture of a board tracking their book sales since the beginning of 2024.
“Y’all… this summer feels never ending to those of us who own & work in small businesses. We have lost or are losing some of my favorite places in Norman,” the post reads. “If you are able to show some love, now’s the time. I believe that we have so much fun yet to have, but we can’t do it without you.”
Green Feather Book Company owner, Heather Hall, holding sales tracking sign.
The post followed the closure of two local businesses: Human Interaction, a vintage apparel and flower shop on Main Street that closed at the end of August, and Inkfire Ramen Tapas & Bar, a ramen restaurant and bar that closed in July.
Hall said when she saw that Human Interaction was closing, it prompted her to make a post herself before it was too late.
“I had been putting off making that post, because there's been evidence across the country of when a bookstore reaches out to its community, its community will come through,” Hall said, “but you have one shot for that.”
‘Contracted across the board’
Green Feather, which Hall runs with her staff of four, is in a building that Hall said has been a bookstore for over 40 years, excluding during the pandemic.
In the first few years, Hall said business improved nearly every month, increasing 30%-50% month after month. But around the start of 2025, a new trend emerged.
“Christmas of 2024 was hard,” Hall said. “After the election, things started to contract significantly because a lot of our customers were bracing themselves for what was going to happen.”
Hall said that following the presidential election, many of her customers were concerned about financial pressure.
“A lot of our customers had read Project 2025 and fully understood the full ramifications of, if these policies are enacted, the impact it's going to have on their finances, on their families, on their ability to feed them themselves,” Hall said. “Spending kind of contracted across the board.”
Project 2025 is a set of recommendations for government structure and policy designed by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, with 34 authors and over 200 contributors, including former Trump administration officials. The project does not explicitly identify itself as a plan for the second Trump administration, and President Donald Trump denied his affiliation with the project during his presidential campaign, but many of the project’s goals have been adopted by Trump during his second term.
‘Pressed on all sides’
Rebecca Bean is the owner of STASH, another local business in downtown Norman that sells gifts, jewelry, plants and books. Bean wrote in an email to OU Daily that her business is also feeling the effects of national economic unrest.
“We're being pressed on all sides, just like our community,” Bean wrote. “Unfavorable tariffs, inflation in all areas, lack of affordable healthcare for our employees are all weighing heavily on us. Small businesses need support now more than ever.”
The Lore owner Kim Bieda said that though stories, art and books are necessary, they aren't food or shelter.
“Folks are a lot more nervous to spend $30 on a hardback book,” Bieda said. “With the way the global economy is changing, the hardback books are $32 — $35 sometimes.”
The Lore is a creative general store just a few blocks from STASH on Main Street. It is operated by Bieda and Sarah Pimsler, a self-proclaimed hobbyist who became Bieda’s business partner.
Bieda started the business as a mobile store at the end of 2022 and opened a storefront in April 2024. Bieda was born in Norman, but moved around during her childhood with her father, who was in the U.S. Navy. She returned to Norman after high school.
Pimsler came to Norman to attend OU, where she met her husband.
Bieda said she sees a pretty clear correlation between world news regarding trade and The Lore’s sales.
“We had some down months this summer,” Bieda said. “We would see a big downtick in sales when those announcements would happen. It (is) all connected, and we're just gonna try and ride it out.”
Bean wrote that STASH is also making decisions with limited funds.
“Paying our employees a living wage remains my main goal,” Bean wrote. “I pay myself last. Reality is that we, like a large number of small businesses, depend on fourth-quarter earnings for our entire year's profit.”
Hall said she is currently paying $1,865 in rent for the 2,000-square-foot-space. She said the previous owner was paying about $1,200.
“I'm not here to build generational wealth,” Hall said. “Thank goodness because I would not be succeeding.”
Bieda said she and Pimsler have seen residential and commercial rent increase in Norman as well.
“It's really hard to start with that much overhead in a business, and especially if you're having to buy product, and you're having to pay staff, and if you're having to do any renovations, it all adds up,” Bieda said. “Then you also have a very heavy rent bill. It's going to deter a lot of folks, and it's going to deter a lot of lenders to lend to folks to start a business. Who has enough money to just start?”
‘A multi-generational family’
Hall said reaching out to members of the community has always been key for her business.
Green Feather hosts various events, particularly book clubs, which are held at least once every week. Despite their recent sales, Hall said the book clubs are very well attended and have only grown since fall 2024.
Hall said if she had only one wish for her bookstore’s events, it would be to help build community, bridging “the gap between town and gown,” and providing all Normanites with an opportunity to meet people with different perspectives.
“You don't have to be invited. If you're new to Norman, come meet some people at the book club. If you're a new student, come meet some people,” Hall said. “You can kind of connect with almost a multi-generational family of readers through a book club.”
Bieda said book clubs at The Lore are also seeing steady growth, starting with one in 2023 and aiming for 11 in 2026. The Lore has partnered with 405 Brewing Co. to host half of its eight current book clubs. Bieda said they're planning to start a book club in every brewery on Main Street next year, as well as Apple Tree Chocolate and Levity Breakfast House.
In a Monday Instagram post, 405 Brewing Co. announced they would be closing after 11 years of business on Main Street.
Bieda wrote in a text message to OU Daily that The Lore will be moving its book clubs previously hosted at 405 Brewing Co. to other breweries in town, BIG Brewing Co. and Legally Brewed, and will be hosting a new book club at Lazy Circles Brewing.
“Getting out and having the structure of a book club really helps folks,” Bieda said. “We've seen some really big friendships boom in some of our groups.”
Bean wrote that rather than doing a lot of traditional advertising, much of the promotion for STASH is done through events as well.
“We have hosted community oriented events to drop people to our area of downtown. These have included all types of fundraisers, pet adoptions, a Brew festival, makers markets, farmers markets, flea markets, you name it,” Bean wrote. “We mostly utilize social media to get the word out about these events.”
Bean also mentioned that, prompted by federal cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, STASH has taken out daily advertisements with KGOU, a non-commercial public radio station licensed to OU, for the remainder of this year.
Aside from book clubs, Hall is trying to generate community engagement through social media. Hall said she now requires her employees to produce an Instagram reel during their shifts.
Hall said she made the Facebook post when she did because, while the situation is urgent, it has yet to become irreversible.
“No, we're not closing. We didn't wait until we were to that point,” Hall said. “I felt very strongly that it makes more sense to let my customers know ahead of time, when there's still something that can be done.”
This story was edited by Ana Barboza, Natalie Armour and Thomas Pablo. Kylie Caldwell, Tori Pham and Gretchen Schultz copy edited this story.
