A year in the life: Green heron bookshop

By Kaylie Kruk

Blog Contributor

In February of last year, Wade Vetiver made a big business leap by opening the Green Heron Bookshop in San Marcos, Texas. A year later, Vetiver finds himself looking back at the growth of his business and thanking the community for its steady support.

Vetiver filled the hearts of community readers when it was announced that he would be opening a bookshop alongside his existing business, Solidago Apothecary. The apothecary was established in a small room within the Young Building on W. Hopkins Street, when a room adjacent to the apothecary became open.

“At the time, which was about a year ago now, there was not a bookstore in San Marcos and I had owned my apothecary for about a year at that point,” said Vetiver. “A space became available, and it was something on my mind, you know, with owning an apothecary, it’s like the next best thing to tea is books.”

On Feb. 9th, 2024, Vetiver opened his second business with Green Heron Bookshop, a unique name with a nod to the San Marcos’ River, ecology and, of course, Green Herons. The bookshop’s mission is to contribute to the fabric of the San Marcos community and become a safe space for art, beauty, fun and third spaces.

The aphorism, “If you build it, they will come” was certainly tested at Vetiver’s new bookshop and fortunately, the community arrived in great support.

“The fact that other bookstores had failed in San Marcos, I felt there was a level of risk involved, so I started very, very small,” said Vetiver. “Upon opening that, within six months we outgrew that space and found [our current space] and it’s just been an evolving dream that the community has really supported.”

Vetiver, along with his two businesses, settled in an 1865, two-story Victorian home on Burleson Street allowing him to live and work from home for the first time ever. The apothecary’s rich scent fills the entire house, perfectly complementing the bookstore’s overall cozy feel.

The Green Heron Bookshop caters to San Marcos locals by stocking its shelves with books of community reader recommendations from the classics to non-fiction to fantasy. Before opening the shop’s doors, Vetiver sent out a survey to the community and asked what the best book they have ever read is.

“I got the insight of learning what our community reads,” said Vetiver. “Now we carry over 200 books that are all from the original community pick pool, so there’s direct community involvement in what is on our shelves.”

Grateful to be living in such a supportive city, Vetiver strives to keep his business aligned with community values and maintain the involvement of the community with the bookshop.

Vetiver is working on expanding his collection and currently transitioning his used book inventory upstairs, while his new books will have full shelves per subject in the main downstairs area.

Looking forward, he also wants to encourage and grow the bookshop’s events including Poetry on the Porch, book club, and other community-partnered functions.

To read more about Green Heron Bookshop, visit https://greenheronbookshop.square.site/

Connect with Green Heron Bookshop on Instagram: @greenheronbookshop.