Cracking Open a New Book Store

The owners of North Park’s brand-spanking new Verbatim Books are used to people asking them why they’d open a physical bookstore when the whole world’s gone digital.

They say there’s still a market for serendipity.

Want to chase down a copy of the new Keith Richards bio your friend recommended? That’s a job for an e-reader, or Amazon.

But, if you don’t know what you want besides something interesting to get lost in, there’s no competition to walking the aisles of a used bookstore, said Justine Epstein, one of the new business owners.

Our culture writer Kinsee Morlan sits down with the new owners in this week’s edition of the Culture Report.