Tyler Enders, Rainy Day Books’ New Face, Talks About the Importance Of Community

Made in KC co-founder Tyler Enders led a group of investors to purchase Rainy Day Books from original owner Vivien Jennings in 2023. Since then, they have developed a 16-person leadership team to oversee the care and administration of the independent Fairway, Kansas, bookseller. Enders’ work with Made in KC focuses on strengthening the Kansas City community, where 90 cents of every dollar spent at the retailer returns to local businesses and individuals. Although new general manager Annie Krieg has taken over most of the bookstore’s responsibilities, Enders is still passionate about where Rainy Day Books fits into the community.

Why did you and your partners think purchasing Rainy Day Books was important? My business partners, Keith Bradley and Thomas McIntyre, and I—all independently of each other—knew this was something we’d want to pursue. For us, it’s about creating community. As we think about what adds to the community, the three of us agree that an independent bookstore has got to be at the top of the list. If we’re going to have Rainy Day Books for the next 50 years, well, we’re pretty uniquely positioned to do it justice, not only leveraging our expertise but also leveraging our reach.

Why, specifically, do you think books are important? Books let people come to conclusions and explore new ideas in a really low-pressure way. I think that storytelling is just a really elegant way for people to push their boundaries and explore new perspectives. You can explore characters you might not encounter in your day-to-day life. You can see those people and those character traits with more humanity.

What makes independent books shops more integral to the community than chains? We bring in dozens of new books every week. So the value of an independent local bookseller or bookstore is that we have a sense of what our community might be interested in, what our community is going to read. We know our customers and can make recommendations. I think the value of having independent bookstores is that we’re curating things that make sense for Kansas City. That doesn’t mean that we’re staying within a bubble. It means that we’re also intentionally expanding beyond it.

I feel like the death of books has come and gone so many times now. Where do you see the future of books in a community? Even though the publishing industry has taken so many different hits, there are many ways to publish a book right now. And there are a lot of great ideas out there. It’s amazing to see people who will independently publish something and then it gets picked up. There’s so many good ideas coming to the fore, and having an opportunity to get in front of readers—it really benefits readership.

Vivien Jennings Talks Relationships, Reading And Rainy Day Books

Vivien Jennings first opened Rainy Day Books on November 4th, 1975. Since then, the quaint little shop has grown to be a pillar in the nation’s independent book scene. Known for hosting hundreds of travelling writers, it has built a reputation that surpasses the metro’s confines, bolstering its successful half-century run. In 2022, Jennings and Rainy Day Books announced they were looking for new ownership, and the store was bought by a consortium of investors. This month, the Kansas City staple celebrates its 50th anniversary.

What made you start RDB, and what was it like getting that going in the ’70s? I had loved reading ever since grade school, and my mother was a big reader too. She lived in Dallas and had these two friends who owned a bookstore which recycled paperbacks and allowed you to trade them. I thought, “You know what? This is a really good concept.” We lived down the street from the Fairway shops, and I thought it would be a great idea if you tried it in more of an upscale shopping center. So I went to [Fairway] and said, “I would like to rent this space. Could you make me some kind of a deal?” I’ve always felt like you just ask. If somebody says, no, that’s okay, but I always ask. And they said okay.

Independent shops have weathered a lot of storms, from big-box book stores to Amazon’s massive selling machine. How do independent bookstores stay alive? I said in the very beginning you need to build relationships with your customers. They will value the knowledge that you have and the relationships that we have with them. I feel like we weathered all those storms [because] a certain loyalty was developed, even when pricing became an issue.

What do you think the future of the independent book shop looks like? I think the independent bookseller [needs to] have a knowledge of books. They have to have a passion for books. They have to focus on books. There is a definite value in that knowledge. That knowledge is worth money.

What do you like to read? Do you have a favorite book? I have different favorite books. One of my favorite fiction books of all time is John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meaney. Fantastic book. Fantastic novel. Just great. But there’s also a book called Wherever you Go, There You Are, which is fantastic. I had the author here years ago. And it’s the idea of just what it says—that you need to just stop and be aware of what you’re doing now. So you’re not thinking forward, you’re not thinking backward.

Now that you have stepped away from the day-to-day operations, what are you doing with your time? Reading.

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