Ben Banta
bbanta@uwyo.edu
The Night Heron Books and Coffeehouse caters to the reading fans in Laramie by offering a café and literature.
The Night Heron was founded in 2003 by Ken Konchnitvki, the owner. The store is part of Laramie’s downtown and the business is split between a café on the ground floor and a bookstore on the second.
“Coffee and books are our specialty and we use it to transform the lonely and isolated into a gestalt,” Samuel Stagner, barista and clerk at the Night Heron Books and Coffeehouse, said. “That is our Raison D’etre.”
The Night Heron Books and Coffeehouse employs 12 people in addition to Konchnitvki.
“Our turnover is extremely low,” Konchnitvki said.
Konchnitvki said that the hiking guide his wife was writing about Poudre Canyon and North Park Colorado when he opened The Night Heron provided part of the inspiration for the store’s name.
“We wanted to do something with nature,” Konchnitvki said. “We were thinking that because she was writing a hiking guide that the nature section would be pretty dominant, which it is.”
From 2003 to 2011, The Night Heron was only a book store. Konchnitvki said he opened the café segment of The Night Heron Books and Coffeehouse in response to slumping sales.
“2008 to 2009 was a pretty tough time for used bookstores in general,” Konchnitvki said. “Kindle had just started coming out and used book sales were at the lowest they had ever been.”
Konchnitvki said that in addition to creating an additional revenue stream, the café side of his business creates an environment where people can spend more time in his bookstore which may prompt them to purchase more literature.
“It’s a very relaxed environment, the stakes never get too high,” Stagner said. “Everyone who comes in is very friendly and kind, I love making coffee and the great deals on books don’t hurt either.”
The café offers locally roasted coffee from Laramie and Fort Collins as well as tea from a Fort Collins boutique. The Night Heron Books and Coffeehouse also makes sandwiches, soups and pastries that are made with ingredients from local food suppliers.
Konchnitvki said that managing both a coffeehouse and a bookstore is difficult.
“It’s very challenging and it’s a skill I am getting better at,” Konchnitvki said. “You hire and train the right people and then you delegate.”
The Night Heron Books and Coffeehouse sells both new and used books. Konchnitvki said that his store will purchase books from the community at approximately one third of their retail value and will do consignment on more expensive items.
Konchnitvki said that in addition to a large selection of nature themed literature, his bookstore specializes in literary fiction, science fiction, western history and history in general.
“The quality of our titles is phenomenal right now,” Konchnitvki said.
Konchnitvki said that the bookstore section of The Night Heron is undergoing remolding and that he is removing some bookshelves, making new seating areas and a book processing area.
“In the used book business there are just piles of books everywhere all the time and we are trying to isolate that,” Konchnitvki said.
