Clarksville Book Shop was vandalized earlier this week, just days before the store's scheduled soft opening on June 20 and grand opening June 26 at 3900 Hollingwood Blvd., Suite D., in Clarksville, Tenn. WKRN reported that co-owners Franklin and Rachael Mir, who have started working to get back on track, saw the damage when they arrived at the bookstore Tuesday morning. "From the door you can see the dust and my daughter was asking me, 'Did something happen to the floors?' " Franklin Mir said. "And then when we opened the door, we realized that someone had been here."
The dust was foam from their fire extinguisher "and covered nearly everything. In addition, the owners found drinks and tools thrown across their business and a giant hole in the wall," WKRN noted.
Kir said he called 911, and "in less than two minutes, they were here. It was fast. Three officers came--two patrol cars--they were really thoughtful, thorough, they took their time." He added that he suspected the officers may be fellow bookworms: "They were sad because they were waiting on the store to open. I'm guessing they're book readers because they really wanted to be here. They were also here this morning."
Having worked for more than two years to launch the business, the Mirs are now trying to stay on track to open, and hope to soon put this chapter behind them. "It's a major setback because, as you can see, this is not going to be a one-day clean up," he said. "So I don't know how long it's going to take, but hopefully we will be opening next Friday."
The bookstore posted on Facebook: "So grateful to Clarksville Police for their quick response and super grateful that our friend was on duty today. Our building manager rushed out and FiveStar Construction was there so fast to do all they could. And we couldn't ask for better neighbors either. All in all, I'm grateful the vandalism wasn't worse and I appreciate the outpouring of love and support."