Love, Passion & the Power of Retail: The Story of Amber Unicorn Books

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Las Vegas-based retailer Amber Unicorn Books for Amex Welcomed, an amazing storytelling campaign from American Express – who is celebrating that over 9,000 more places in the Las Vegas area that began accepting American Express® Cards in 2016.  I feel so fortunate to have met the dynamic duo behind this incredible used book store. Time and time again, I have said that the owners of a business are what bring a store to life, yet for husband and wife duo Myrna and Lou Donato of Amber Unicorn Books, they disagree.

Our customers are who bring our store to life, creating bonds between books and people,” shares Myrna.

Bonds between books and people are undoubtedly among the experiences gained by customers at Amber Unicorn Books, but I must disagree with the Donatos that it’s their customers who bring their store to life. This impressive team is the true heartbeat of the one-of-a-kind, used book store and together have kept it alive and thriving for 38 years.

Married for nearly 36 years, the bookstore brought Myrna and Lou together. Lou had previously owned another book store in California before deciding to relocate to Las Vegas, where he met Myrna by chance after apologizing to her for the noise and chaos that the store he was preparing to open was causing. Frustrated and annoyed by the inconvenience, Myrna shrugged Lou away, but later reached out to him after recognizing she may have been a bit “short.” An invitation to a dinner date came later and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Years and countless books would follow the Donatos as they built their business – and their marriage – with passion and love. A few store relocations, a once-in-a-lifetime book buying trip to Europe, and frequent updates to help them stay relevant in an increasingly digital world brings us to where the Donatos are today… in a warm, cozy storefront in the dessert of Nevada surrounded by various other small businesses.

Opened seven days a week, the Donatos rarely – if ever – take time off. They discovered early in their retail career that their customers come from all over the world and thus, their hard work must never dwindle to keep their business alive and their customers happy. Early on, they also realized that to truly support their international audience of consumers, they needed American Express to help. This was an essential part of their business growth, as being a business that welcomes Amex Cards helped to implement and strengthen security features and eliminate many language barriers.

Our reputation that we were the go-to-store for used books grew quickly. Word travelled fast, and we began welcoming customers from all over the world,” shares Myrna.

Capturing and keeping customer attention from around the world is no easy task, but for the Donatos they approached this with some timeless, practical business strategies that can be applied to all entrepreneurs. Among their best tips for inspiring businesses include:

• Be willing to compromise. As Lou explains, “there’s a lot of compromising in business, but if you are passionate about something, that passion helps keep you motivated to move forward and get more work done, even if it means adjusting your original efforts or thoughts.”
• Approach things with ease. There’s a lot of work for small business owners to get done, but approaching each day with a can-do attitude can help, Lou believes. “The right approach to the work day can often ease the never-ending list of work to do.”
• Know when to let others help. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and for Myrna and Lou this is no different. “Separating work chores is important. Do what you know you do best and then let someone else do what they do best. Together your efforts will add up to be more effective for your business,” shares Lou.
• Don’t shy away from change. “It’s easy to shy away from change and not try new efforts in marketing or other customer communication, but that doesn’t usually help your business. Keeping up with how customers react and respond to stores is important, so we incorporate social media and other online strategies whether we want to or not,” shares Myrna.
• Lean on trusted resources. Without having reliable resources working alongside your business efforts, operating your business may not be as effective or respected. “We recognized early on in our business that we needed trusted resources like American Express to make our jobs easier and to give customers the trust they are looking for from businesses to work with,” Myrna explains.

Welcoming customers worldwide is undoubtedly a goal any merchant would appreciate, and being an American Express accepting business means more than just being able to support transactions from consumers worldwide. It also meant delivering security and trust to customers – despite language barriers, shipping challenges and other perceived hiccups that catering to international clientele can often bring. This trust was yet another aspect of Amber Unicorn Books that helped them gain such strong, valued retail success.

As for leaving their work at the store?

“Ironically, that doesn’t happen. We are always discussing books, our customers and business,” shares Lou.

When you have a shop that’s open seven days a week, nearly 12 hours a day and with a 24 hour online presence it’s almost guaranteed that work plays a role in our home life. But that’s okay. We have found a happy medium to balance this and it works,” Myrna says with a smile.

I’ve always believed that running your own retail store is more than just a job, but instead a lifestyle. And for Myrna and Lou, this could not be truer. Retail is about relationships, about experiences and about connecting people and products to help give life new meaning. The Donatos do each of these things with love and passion, truly demonstrating what it looks like to be a successful retailer.

As for me, their customer? My life is forever enriched just by being among those who have had the pleasure of getting to shop at Amber Unicorn Books.