[이런 인생 2막]
Mr. Lee Seok-dae, the bookstore manager of the independent bookstore specializing in poetry, ‘Sanarae Poetry’
“Seventy is the age of curiosity and passion”
Even if everyone tries to stop me, I’ll go my own way.
6070, Don’t be swept away by the flow of time
The thrill of a 13-pyeong bookstore and the ‘freedom of confinement’
“My poetry collection is in the bookstore…” Thank you to the poets
Increasing sister bookstores, dreaming of a world of reading books![“You’re thinking of starting a business at the age of seventy, and you’re determined to fail?”[서영아의 100세 카페]](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/09/06/126890255.1.jpg "“You’re thinking of starting a business at the age of seventy, and you’re determined to fail?”[서영아의 100세 카페]")
At the age of seventy, when others are giving up their jobs, Lee Seok-dae (71) suddenly decided to open a bookstore. Everyone except his family was against it. With other successful bookstores closing down one after another, he couldn’t open a bookstore that only sells poetry books, which are the least popular books. However, his stubbornness and determination are the source of his strength. Last May, an independent bookstore with a signboard called “Sanarae Poetry” opened. But why didn’t his family object?
“I’ve been saying this for a long time. When I get older, I’ll open a small bookstore.” (Lee Seok-dae)
His daughter Hyun-kyung also said, “I thought it was something that was natural.” In fact, I learned of his existence through the book, “Seventy-year-old Entrepreneur’s Diary,” that his daughter Hyun-kyung recently sent him. On the cover, it says, “After retirement, I dedicate this rippling energy to the 6070s of this land who are wondering ‘how to spend the rest of their lives.’” It’s a concept that fits perfectly with a 100-year-old café.
He hesitated a lot about whether to do an interview or not. The author of the book was a pen name (child name) called ‘Lee Dong-rim’ and he had been hiding his real name in order to become a nameless bookstore owner. The next morning, after barely making an appointment for an interview, he received another long message. He said, ‘I wanted to make my bookstore known and boost the morale of my sister bookstores, but I don’t think the spotlight is on me.’
In the end, the interview was conducted on the 26th of last month with the representatives of the sister bookstores. This is the first time that he has revealed his real name as the owner of the bookstore.
Poetry collections sent to poets across the country for sale
The poetry bookstore ‘Sanarae Poetry’ is located in the cafe street in front of Hyeonchung-ro, Nam-gu, Daegu. He rented a 13-pyeong space that used to be a cafe and installed bookshelves. The rest of the space is filled with poetry books, each showing off their colors and skills. The sign logo is in white letters on a green background. The simple yet sophisticated decorations, including the lights hanging from twisted wires, are all handmade by him.
―After opening the bookstore for about a year, the word I heard the most was ‘thank you.’
“Poets said ‘thank you’ when they sent their poetry collections, and customers also said thank you. Many poets were moved and said, ‘My book is hanging in a bookstore for the first time since I became a poet.’ There are many poets who have waited for readers to that extent.”
As rumors spread that a bookstore selling only poetry collections was about to open, the number of poets visiting the store with their own poetry collections or sending them by courier or parcel has increased. Perhaps it is more of a ‘poetry collection exhibition hall’ where the works of participating poets are gathered in one place than a bookstore.
There are poets who come from far away provinces, overwhelmed with emotion, to visit us with their books, and there are also poets who send us their drawings, saying that they would look good hanging in a bookstore. As of the end of August, there are about 350 poets registered as members of Sanarae Poetry, and 390 poetry collections are on display. There is also a group KakaoTalk room where about 200 poets gather.
“I first sent money from book sales in June of last year, and it was only a few thousand won at most. But someone who received it posted in the group chat, ‘My poetry book has been sold! Let’s go look at land in Jeju Island!’ Haha.”
How long has the city been waiting for us…
It operates through consignment sales through direct transactions with poets across the country, without going through a publisher. The poets send 10 copies of their poetry collections, and the bookstore acts as an exhibition and sales agency.
Since books that had been piled up in the closet without finding owners are sent, there is no need to worry about purchasing costs or inventory burden, which are the concerns of local bookstores. However, everyone seems to be worried that this bookstore will go out of business. Many poets sent books and said, “We don’t need the money for the books, so use it to run the bookstore.”
But he is a stubborn principled person. He declared that he would not display the books unless he was given an account number to send the money to. He also announced in advance that he would not order new books for a while even if the first 10 books were sold. He wanted to give other poetry books that had not yet been sold a chance.
There are other operating principles. The poetry books are displayed in different places from time to time so that they can meet readers equally. Even if a customer asks for a recommendation for a ‘good poetry book’, I never respond. Because all the poetry books displayed in the bookstore are ‘good poetry books’. In order to focus on poetry books, I do not sell coffee or props. I pay poets 60% of the price of books sold every month.
Last June, an executive from the Seoul Essay Association visited and heard an explanation of this system, and said, “A new chapter has opened in the distribution structure of publications. We will consider operating a bookstore like this in the metropolitan area.” The Daegu Essayist Association said that they are considering an “essay specialty bookstore” in a similar manner.
-How did you first connect with the poets?
“I don’t know. We invited poets we knew and many of them came in. Thanks to that, we were able to start a new concept bookstore.”
– Are they mostly unknown poets?
“There are many lesser-known poets. However, we sell them regardless of whether they are famous or unknown. For example, we sold Kim Jae-jin and Ahn Do-hyun’s poetry collections that they sent us. This one was sent by an Australian Korean poet, and this one was sent by an Indonesian Korean poet. After doing it for a year, I found that there are quite a few gems among the so-called unknown poets’ works. They just didn’t make it to the media and didn’t make their names known due to bad luck.”
6070, Don’t hesitate because you’re retired
-Why did you open a bookstore at the age of seventy?
“A bookstore has been my long-time dream. When I was young, several friends invested in a bookstore and it failed. Haha. In addition, I thought that the 60-70 generation should not be swept away by the passage of time. When I look around, I see people going to the mountains or libraries every day or lounging around at home, looking around. I thought that I couldn’t let time go by and waste my time and my life. I thought that I couldn’t give up like this.
It is such a shame and regret that the knowledge and work ability of the 6070 generation, trained and accumulated throughout their lives, is being wasted because of their ‘age.’ I hope that we can call them back to our lives so that they can once again become solid ‘active people.’ We need to brighten up our eyes so that ‘seventy’ can once again become the ‘age of curiosity and passion.’ For me, that was a bookstore, but if I change my mind, there are many other things I can challenge myself with besides bookstores… .”
-Then why is it a bookstore that only sells poetry books?
“It seemed like something that someone had to do. I heard a story from a poet friend a few years ago. He said, ‘I collected my works and published a book of poetry, but I gave a few copies to people around me. There are no copies in bookstores, and they are piled up in a corner of a bookshelf. There are many poets like that in the literary world.’ He lamented, ‘There are many excellent works among them, but they never find readers.’
I don’t write poetry, but I can imagine how difficult and painful the labor must have been before finishing a poem. If I were to open a bookstore, as I have long dreamed of, I would like to collect these precious poetry collections and introduce them to readers.”
– I see you are feeling a great sense of accomplishment.
“In my experience, many poets have strong personalities and are fundamentally good. The people who come to buy poetry books are also better than many people I have met in my social life. That is why I keep thinking that this poetry bookstore must do well.”
Poetry Bookstore Startup Class “Let’s Spread Poetry in the World”
The book he published last year, ‘Entrepreneur’s Diary at the Age of Seventy’, records the process he went through to open a bookstore. He included the process of finding a suitable store, registering the business, opening a bank account, and even doing the cleaning and interior design all by himself in a book edited like a poetry collection.
Since February, we have opened two classes for starting a poetry bookstore under the slogan, “Let’s spread poetry to the world.” Students who participated in the classes have started their own businesses, and five sister bookstores have opened in Daegu, Gyeongbuk, and Busan. We are preparing to open four more stores this year, including Cheongju in Chungbuk and Anseong in Gyeonggi. Most sister bookstores are “shop-in-shop” stores that open in the corners of existing stores, so all you have to do is prepare a bookshelf to open.
Jo Mi-sook (57), the manager of the first sister bookstore, Gaeseong Chilgok Branch, is a current middle school math teacher and a poet who published a poetry collection in November of last year. In May, she opened a bookstore in the corner of a bibimbap chain restaurant run by her family.
“It took about two weeks to prepare. I posted my address in the poets’ group chat saying, ‘I am so-and-so who wants to open a bookstore.’ Then, the 200 people sent me 5 books each. In a week, 1,000 books would be delivered, and if I just put them on display, I could open a bookstore right away.”
―You must have sympathized even more since you are also a poet.
“I gave away a lot of my poetry books to my friends and still have a lot left over. I was so happy about the existence of Sanarae-si Bookstore. If I bring it here, someone will buy it. What’s even more surprising is that the first person to buy my poetry books was a former student of mine who happened to stop by this bookstore. This teacher immediately took a picture and sent it to me, which was so amazing.
It’s really exciting to see my books sold to someone and receive feedback. The reason I opened the first store is because I thought there would be many people like me. Let’s find a place for poetry books that have been written and printed but have no place to go. Now, my dream is to provide a place where these poets can comfortably hold book concerts.”
Kim Min-seok (32), who became the second store owner, decorated a corner of a franchise noodle restaurant in Gyeongsan into a bookstore. It is still in its initial stages, but he says the customers’ response is good. “Someday, I want to create my own brand that emphasizes ‘balance between body and mind,’” he said. “My poetry is in charge of my mental health.”
The sister bookstore is also a great source of strength for Mr. Lee.
“I hope that more bookstores will increase and that bookstore managers will feel rewarded and inspired, and that readers will be able to easily access poetry books. I have this desire to create an environment where they can easily access poetry books. Some of my friends say things like, ‘Sanarae Poetry’ is famous in Daegu, so why do you keep creating sister bookstores? You’d do well if you monopolized it all by yourself, but are you really a businessman? But if you think about money, you shouldn’t open a bookstore.”
The gaze of a bookstore keeper
We can get a glimpse of his other expectations for the bookstore through stories about his favorite customers.
“There were two boys in the first year of middle school (at the time) who came every week since last August. They would come around 5 PM on Thursdays or Fridays, put their bags under the table, and sit on two chairs. When there was a new poetry book, they would take it one by one and look through it, and they would also take paper and copy it among themselves.
And then they read to each other, look at each other, and laugh. They play like that for about an hour. It was so pretty, and I put the candy basket out there for the kids to eat.
I haven’t bought a single book of poetry yet, but watching them play made me think a lot. If those kids grow up with such bright smiles and the heart to copy poetry and go out into society, wouldn’t the world be a better place to live in? That’s why I run a bookstore… . I think about things like that.
“But I haven’t seen these kids since around May. They must be in the second grade, so I wonder if they started going to a private academy….”
He worked as a public relations manager at a local construction company after working as a journalist. When 120 employees were ‘cut off’ at once due to bankruptcy right after the foreign exchange crisis, he sent letters to 1,400 partner companies. ‘Please give encouragement calls to the employees who have to leave the company, and if you have the means, hire them.’ This incident was also reported in a central daily newspaper at the time.
A year later, he also left the company. As the general affairs manager, he was in charge of restructuring about 40 people, and said, “I don’t have the face to stay.”
At the time, he was 50 years old. He started working for his wife at a small advertising planning and design company called ‘Bright People’. The company grew to about 30 employees and annual sales of 2 billion won, and it has been receiving national planning and design awards every year, gaining a solid reputation in the local community.
He himself stepped down from his job 4-5 years ago because he felt he might be hindering the new ideas of young employees.
Seventy-year-old enjoying ‘confined freedom’
-Is running the bookstore going well?
“Except for the monthly rent of 800,000 won, there’s not much money to spend. Since I opened the bookstore, I’ve stopped eating and drinking with my friends. Even if I lose a few hundred thousand won a month from running the bookstore, if I think about the money I spend on food and drinks with my friends, it’s still a little more than that.
When I came into this bookstore, I was seventy years old and thought I needed to organize my life a bit. First, I organized my phone numbers. I cut the number of my phone numbers, which used to be over 1,500, in half, but then I met poets and the number increased again to over 200.
When I was guarding an empty store by myself, I felt like a monk who was sitting in meditation. At this age, those times were really meaningful and precious. In the past, I thought I was free when I was out and about, but after being tied up in a bookstore, I realized that being confined was freedom. I was confined, but I was free inside.”
―People often say that as you get older, you have to make friends with loneliness.
“As I grow older, I realize how reckless I have been. Looking back now, the person who treated me the worst was my spouse. When I was young and didn’t know anything, I married a poor salaryman and spent my whole life supporting my in-laws and raising my children. I should come to my senses and pay off my debt, but there’s no way to do it. I can’t carry her around and I don’t have a lot of money so I can’t keep giving her. All I could do was wash the dishes or clean the house whenever I had the chance so she wouldn’t feel hurt. I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about her anymore…”
―I often see elders who led the world talking about the importance of spouse and family late in life. It’s better to start well…
“That’s right. If young people could realize this earlier, not only would families become peaceful, but society would change as well.”
Although he only created one neighborhood bookstore, his dream is much grander.
“I hope that small bookstores will continue to increase here and there. I hope that small bookstores opening in every neighborhood will provide a new driving force for evolution in our cultural ecosystem and daily life. Just as the demand for coffee skyrockets as cafes increase in every alley, if bookstores open in every neighborhood… .”
The upright and stubborn 70-year-old bookstore owner dreams of a world where books are sold and read a lot.
2024-09-07 04:45:35