Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 6, Issue 12, December 2002

Copyright 2002 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article and photos below in your research. Be sure to quote the Seattle Sun as your source.

Pack the cats and books:
U-District 'Tales' has new home

By LEAH WEATHERSBY

Rubbing shoulders can be fun, but book browsing may not be the best time for it.

Now the Twice Sold Tales bookstore in the University District seems to have solved a lack of space that used to make the store crowded when ever the occupancy reached six or more.

The store, which specializes in used books, recently took over the old Porter & Jensen Jewelers shop space at 4501 University Way NE, just around the corner from Twice Sold Tales' former location.

Manager John Watkins, who is also a partner in the business, says the bigger space of the new location allows the U-District Twice Sold Tales to better accommodate its customers, books, not to mention the shop's three resident cats.

The Twice Sold Tales chain started in 1987 with a single location, and a modest one at that: a cart in the Broadway Market on Capitol Hill.

Prior to launching Twice Sold Tales, founder Jamie Lutton made her living buying books at yard sales and reselling them to stores.

In 1990, Twice Sold Tales moved into a storefront on Capitol Hill at 906 E. John St., just east of Broadway.

Lutton added cats to her store because the building was infested with mice when she moved in. The rodents have been replaced with a homey feeling which Watkins said is especially appreciated by apartment dwellers who can't have pets

Lutton brought Watkins into the business in 1992. The two met while both were studying at Western Washington University in Bellingham. They dated briefly but the romance didn't last. Fortunately, the friendship did

After graduate school, Watkins became a reporter, working at the Odessa American, a newspaper in Odessa, TX. He later moved back to Washington state to be close to family and worked as editor of Pacific Builder & Engineer, a Bellevue-based publication.

Perhaps Watkins was always destined for Twice Sold in Texas he was known as "the cat man of Odessa," because of his eight feline friends.

At any rate, Lutton said she and Watkins work well together. When she sensed he was ready for a career change, she started lobbying him to join her business. In 1991, he agreed and the pair opened a second Twice Sold Tales in Wallingford on Jan. 1, 1992. There is also a third Twice Sold Tales in Fremont that is wholly owned and run by one of Lutton's former managers.

Over the years, Watkins' shop moved a couple of times, always in search of more space.

"I looked at (this space) for a while because I thought 'that's going to be a lot more money'," Watkins said, adding that it's scary to risk everything again by investing in growth.

Although Watkins remains apprehensive, many regular customers are happy about the store's latest move.

"I just wanted to congratulate you," said one woman walking past the counter. "This is the best thing that could have moved in here."

Now when shoulders are rubbed at Twice Sold Tales, it's purely by choice.