Could a new downtown bookshop be on New London's horizon?

I first ran across a reference to plans for a downtown New London bookstore on Twitter, with some posts by CeeGeesBookshop.

What great news, I thought. I've long considered a bookstore to be the Holy Grail of downtown New London redevelopment.

If the city could sustain a good independent bookstore, I think it would be proof of the success of a continuing renaissance. Good bookstores are generally barometers of interesting, thoughtful, dynamic and engaged communities.

I know it's a tough time for the bookselling business. It's a challenging time for music producers, too, and newspapers, and all kinds of businesses that are being affected by lifestyle and habit changes brought on by the Internet.

Still, when I finally met Gina Holmes and Chris Jones, the two young people planning Cee Gees Bookshop, after tracking them down through the proposed bookshop's Facebook page, I felt a little more confident that they actually may be able to pull it off.

They, too, have heard all the pessimism.

"People often ask us, 'But what about e-books?' " said Holmes.

(Their short answer, by the way, is that you will be able to order e-books off their website.)

When I first emailed Jones to ask about their project, he suggested it is too early in the process for a news story. They would like to open the store in the spring.

In general, he's right. The Day usually doesn't write about new businesses until they open.

I thought this might be a good exception, though, a peek at what's involved in planning a new business in New London.

Holmes and Jones are both, naturally, big book readers. Jones has a lot of experience in retail, working around here for many years as a manager with a national chain. He also has a side business booking music for local venues.

Holmes grew up in Waterford, Jones in East Lyme, but live now in downtown New London.

They are squarely in the middle of the promising demographic of creative and enthusiastic young people who are breathing new life into New London's downtown. She is 29. He is 31.

They have done a lot of homework in creating a business plan. Their research includes analysis of bookselling statistics and how that squares with population numbers in New London County. The result is promising, they say, with indications of a $17 million market that is hardly being served.

Borders closed its Waterford store because of corporate failings, they said, but the mega store Books-A-Million has easily picked up some of the slack.

Holmes and Jones have visited and talked to owners of independent book stores in Madison, Mystic and Westerly, and all of them have told them business is good and they would welcome a new independent store in New London.

They've consulted an accountant, a marketing professional and a small business advisor.

They looked at a lot of empty retail space downtown, most of it well within their price range of about $12 a square foot. They have a letter of intent from a landlord on Washington Street, the owner of the restored loft building that already houses the Bean & Leaf coffee shop.

The bookstore, they think, would complement the coffee shop, and vice versa. The site also has parking, so the store could accommodate not just city walkers but those who want to drive in from the suburbs.

Cee Gees - it's an amalgamation of their names - will sell primarily new books, magazines, some limited used books, some stationery, magazines, possibly some art supplies and maybe greeting cards.

They are also looking at a machine that helps authors who want to self publish.

Both Holmes and Jones say they would like the store to be a community gathering place and they would like to host many events and author readings. Jones said he looks forward to combining his business in booking music acts with drawing in a wide range of authors, whom he says are usually happy to appear at independent bookstores.

Their next step, before signing a lease and ordering some of the books on their wish list, is a big one: securing financing.

They would welcome angel investors. But they are also hopeful a local bank will see the strength of their business plan.

It certainly would be a project that could lend a lot of goodwill to any bank that might get behind it. Let's hope one of them sees it that way.

It's downtown's Holy Grail, and this enthusiastic young couple seems to be closing in on it.

This is the opinion of David Collins