Salt Lake City bookstore bucking trend

SALT LAKE CITY — When you walk into Golden Braid Books, you immediately realize that there is much more to the place than just reading material. With products and books that focus on promoting “conscious living,” the store is as much an experience for the senses and spirit as it is a bookstore.

Interestingly, the business has remained vibrant and profitable despite the economic downturn, while other book-centric retailers have met difficult challenges and have fought to stay afloat.

Now, Jill and Joel LaSalle — who bought the Golden Braid and the adjacent Oasis Café about 10 years ago — have decided to invest rather substantially, to keep their small, independent bookstore prosperous for years to come.

The couple recently completed a major "re-envisioning" of their business, located at 151 S. 500 East, in downtown Salt Lake City, spending approximately $225,000 to renovate the entire experience offered to patrons of their establishment.

"We really needed to update the store," Jill explained. "It was looking a little ragged, and so we decided to just bring in more … offer more of (what's) out there." 

Some creative approaches were used in the overhaul, including the integration of books with relevant products displayed in thematic nooks throughout the store.

It is also one of the first stores in Utah to install "mood lighting." RaLights full spectrum lighting is typically used as light therapy for those with seasonal or mood disorders, but in this case, they are used to set a healthful tone in the store, LaSalle said.

Helping with relaxation, learning and healing, the lighting provides a general sense of well-being and boosts mood, productivity, energy, immunity, while reducing stress or depression, she added.

LaSalle said they have spent the past decade working to create an environment that serves its diverse clientele in numerous ways.

It's "an environment that people feel better in, that they are comforted by," she said. "The store used to be books on one side and product on the other side. Now, we've integrated it so that the books relate to the products in each section."