Little Professor Book Shop
Little Professor Book Center is an independently-owned bookstore currently located at 2717 18th Street South in downtown Homewood. Although it opened in May 1973 as part of a nationwide franchise with more than 120 stores, the Homewood location, owned byPaul and Diane Seitz, is now one of only three Little Professor stores sill open.
Main location
The Homewood store was originally located at 2901 18th Street, on The Curve in Homewood. In the late 1980's, an arsonist set a fire between Little Professor and the antique store behind it. Little Professor was declared a total loss by the insurance company, primarily because of smoke damage to the inventory. The store was allowed to sell any intact books at a substantial discount, however, and did so out of their parking lot for a week or two. After the damage was repaired and new inventory secured, Little Professor reopened.
The store moved two blocks south in the 1990s. Crape Myrtle's Café (originally "L. Indica"), owned by Jim Muir, operated in the rear of the building.
Other locations
The Seitzes opened an additional location in Roebuck Shopping City in Roebuck in 1972, but sold it to the Watkins in 1973. The Watkinses opted not to continue as a Little Professor franchisee and renamed the store Watkins Book Shop.
The Seitzes opened two additional Little Professor stores in the Birmingham area during the 1980s. One was located at 3150 Overton Road in Mountain Brook, opening circa 1988. It was only open for a relatively short time. The other was in Crestline and was only open for approximately one year.
References
- Seitz, Pat (July 16, 2006). Personal communication.
- Book Stores - Small Business Loans (n.d.). LoanSensePlus.com. Accessed August 21, 2008.