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CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE PHOTO

Lynn Fulp is seen through a rack of books shopping at the Book Swap of Carrollwood, 13020 N. Dale Mabry Hwy.

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By SEAN C. LEDIG, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 8, 2007

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CARROLLWOOD - Sometimes, if you look, you can find what you want in your own back yard.

Cynthia Floyd learned that lesson while pursuing her dream of owning and running a bookstore. The Original Carrollwood native spent a year looking on the Internet in the hopes of buying one.

But it was a casual conversation at her beauty salon that led her to the Book Swap of Carrollwood.

'I gave myself $2,000 and a year to do research,' Floyd said. 'But my manicurist said, 'You know, the Book Swap is for sale.' '

Her manicurist, Kippie Romano, owner of Herrington's Salon in Forest Hills, is the daughter-in-law of Eleanor Romano, a longtime employee at the Book Swap. Following that conversation, Floyd approached then-owner Arlene Swartzman about selling the store. After months of back-and-forth negotiations, Floyd bought the store in January.

Swartzman opened the store in 1984 after opening two others in Dunedin and Palm Harbor. The stores were originally Swartzman's career Plan B after failing to secure a job as a history teacher.

Though she misses the store and the employees who have become 'like a family' to her, Swartzman said she felt it was time to move on.

'I'm 71 years old,' she said. 'Even though I miss it, and I didn't want to do it, in this day and age, when you've got a buyer who's got the right pocketbook, you take it.'

Floyd said she was always attracted to reading and books. When she returned to Florida eight years ago after living in Maryland and California, she worked part time for the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System. She briefly toyed with the idea of going back to that before settling on opening a bookstore.

'I wanted to do something that I really enjoy,' Floyd said. 'I enjoyed working at the library, but it didn't pay much. I decided that if I was going to be poor, I wanted to be self-employed.'

Floyd said the early months were tough, working 60 to 80 hours a week.

'It's a tough industry, especially with the Internet and other things that play in people's lives,' Floyd said.

Floyd said she was reluctant to make a lot of changes, especially because Swartzman had been so successful. She even kept all of Swartzman's former employees on staff at the store to make use of their expertise.

'She had five part-time employees,' Floyd said of Swartzman. 'They've been a mainstay of her business. They've been a huge part of the store's success.

'For example, we all have our reading habits,' Floyd continued. 'Pat Bobanic reads the best sellers while Eleanor reads a lot about health, metaphysics and philosophy, and Karen Hartman reads mysteries.'

The store thrives despite being within walking distance of Borders Books & Music and Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Floyd credits the Book Swap's customer service and the fact that customers can exchange their used books for a credit while buying used books for a fraction of the cost of new ones.

Swartzman said the neighboring chain book stores have referred customers to her, especially people looking for classics of Western literature.

'I cannot tell you how many times Walden, Borders and Barnes & Noble called at the store to see if we had a book,' Swartzman said. 'That was especially true with students who needed books. We might have had 30 copies while the other stores had five. They called, and that locked them into us.'

In fact, Swartzman found they filled a niche by working with local teachers on their students' reading lists.

'Of course, if we had used ones, that was all the better for students,' Swartzman said. 'We always discounted books for students 20 percent. If they were used, we'd discount 40 percent.'

One of Floyd's few changes has been opening the store up to local book clubs. She leads a paranormal romance book club, and Debbie Doliner of Carrollwood Village leads a women authors book club.

'She has been most gracious,' Doliner said of Floyd. 'I gave her the list of the books for the year, and at every meeting she has the books available to purchase for the next meeting.'

Joy Todd, a Lake Magdalene resident who has come to the store since she moved to Tampa 19 years ago, said she's glad things haven't changed much under the new management.

'I get all the books I want and bring back the ones I've read,' Todd said. 'It works the same as far as I can tell.'

Lynn Fulp of Carrollwood said she likes having a place where she can return used books for credit.

'I'm usually here trading in my son's stuff,' Fulp said of her 14-year-old son Zachary. 'I like it. It's a good way to do it.'

With Caleb, 9, and Maggie, 11, in tow, Rhonda McNamara of Carrollwood said she has been shopping at the store off-and-on. McNamara said she wants to encourage good reading habits in her children as she purchased a used copy of 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.'

'I'm buying it for Caleb,' she said. 'We have the other Harry Potter books, but we misplaced the first one. I didn't want him to get started in the middle.'

Browsing the graphic novels, Rebecca Maxwell, 19, of Egypt Lake, said she also takes advantage of the store's exchange policy on used books.

'I traded in most of the manga on the shelf,' she said, referring to Japanese comics that are published in paperback form.

Maxwell's mother, Barbara Holley, said she likes the store's exchange policy for a different reason.

'I'm off for three days, so we're having a spring cleaning in the fall,' Holley said. 'We have so many books, so we're getting rid of some old books.'

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Book Swap of Carrollwood

WHERE: 13020 N. Dale Mabry Highway

HOURS: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

INFORMATION: Call (813) 963-6979 or go to www.books wapfl.com

Reporter Sean C. Ledig can be reached at (813) 865-1507 or sledig@tampatrib.com.

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