Vintage Books celebrates 40th anniversary

Vancouver Heights — It was a particularly love-filled Valentine’s Day at Vintage Books, as longtime customers and authors stopped by to celebrate the store’s 40th anniversary. It was a shock to the store’s owner, Becky Milner, who started Vintage Books as a mail-order business out of her home before moving to a retail location. Leading up to Valentine’s Day, store employees Pepper Parker and Finch Hogue emailed regular customers asking them to stop by on the store’s anniversary, as well as to spread the word. Milner isn’t sure how many people showed up. “It was a blur,” she said. “A lovely, wonderful blur.” Milner said the original plan for the anniversary was to leave some cookies out for customers and give out coupons. Instead, people showed up throughout the day and brought cards, or signed heart-shaped notes, which Milner said she plans to hang in the store. “It was amazing and heartwarming,” she said. “Nobody gets into selling books to get rich. The riches come from sharing the books and meeting people.”