Browseabout’s Crane named Citizen of Year

Rehoboth Beach Main Street recently honored one of the city’s biggest champions.

Steve Crane, co-owner of Browseabout Books, was named Citizen of the Year at Main Street’s annual Community Unity Dinner, Sunday, Dec. 5. Crane and his wife, Barbara, have operated Browseabout since 1975, with January marking the independent bookstore’s 36th year in business. Crane was modest about being given the award.

“I guess it’s a cumulative thing. I guess it’s like, 35 years of being in business down here, trying to run a good business, and we really support downtown Rehoboth. We just like to keep everything local. We like to create local jobs and help out. It’s the type of business we try to run the best we can,” Crane said.

Crane said the success of Browseabout Books has simply been a matter of hard work.

“We didn’t really have a business plan. Our plan was just to work hard and see what happens,” he said.

The Cranes started Browseabout books with Steve’s parents. Steve Crane’s father and grandfather both worked for Woolworth’s in Dover. Although he spent his early professional career as a teacher, business was always something Crane had in the back of his mind.

“Education was my major, but business was more than my minor. I grew up in it. I started working for my dad in the basement of Woolworth’s in Dover when I was 5 years old,” Crane said. “I used to mark merchandise in the basement. My dad used to give me a quarter an hour. I usually worked two hours, and I could buy a pack of crackers and a milk shake and go to the movies. I sat at the dinner table listening to my father talk about business, and it just sort of rubbed off.”

At the time they started Browseabout, the Cranes were both teaching. They started the bookstore as something they could do in the summertime before they had to head back to teaching. It was also something Steve’s father could do after he suffered a series of heath problems. Steve’s mother also worked at the store.

“My father did it part-time, my mother did it, my wife and I did it during the summer and it was just like, ‘Holy mackerel, maybe we can all live off this.’ And we just kept growing,” Crane said. The bookstore’s name comes from an unlikely source.

“The business was named after a pair of shoes, called Browseabouts. My mother had a shoebox and we were sitting around the dinner table, trying to think of a name,” Crane said.

While today Browseabout is a fixture on the second block of Rehoboth Avenue, it wasn’t always that way. The store has had six other locations, mostly on the first block of Rehoboth Avenue, but also at 1 Virginia Ave. and in Village by the Sea.

Originally, Browseabout had a toy store, a gift shop and the bookstore. When Steve’s parents could no longer work, the Cranes separated working duties, with Barbara working nights, while Steve worked during the daytime. Browseabout has become a destination in Rehoboth – despite competing against chain stores, box stores and internet sites like Amazon.com – largely on the basis of hard work, Crane said.

“We just reinvent ourselves, and now we have to figure out how to do this better,” he said.

Browseabout has also beat the odds when it comes to having major authors come in for signings, despite not being a New York Times reporting store.

“I wanted to not bring too much attention to myself,” Crane said.

Not reporting sales to the New York Times prevents Browseabout from having major best-selling authors come in, but the Cranes have managed to attract national figures for signings, such as Vice President Joe Biden, “Jackass” star Bam Margera, “Project Runway” star Tim Gunn and “Today Show” host Hoda Kotb.

Although having national figures is a big thrill, Browseabout doesn’t forget its local roots and has had signings by local writers and photographers such as Kevin Fleming, Fay Jacobs and Maribeth Fischer.

“We’ve tried to make a store where people come to, and it’s a good-time store. We’re not looking for the thing that Kmart or Walmart has. We’re looking for the thing you can’t find everywhere,” Crane said.

Although Crane was the one receiving the award, he gave a great deal of credit to his staff.

“People say, ‘How do you do all this?’ Well, we have really great staff that we work with. It’s like a family,” he said.

Crane also credited Main Street for its support of local business and creating a unique downtown business community unlike anywhere.

“I do love downtown Rehoboth Beach. You try to make everybody in Rehoboth’s job easier than the next guy and lead by example. I think other stores depend on me to set a standard and keep up the store. You just try to do the right thing,” he said.