Photography By Karlo Gesner
Some doors lead to places that feel familiar, like you’ve already been there and you’re safe and right at home. Bookshelves lined with hundreds of thousands of previously loved books, the warmth of a team eager to share their hospitality and passion for reading, and cuddly cats that greet you at the door embody this nostalgic feeling at Cupboard Maker Books.
“This is the place where it’s that third space where people can connect, and connect with each other,” Michelle Haring says.
Michelle and her husband, Jason Haring, are the owners of Cupboard Maker Books. The independent bookstore located in Enola (a large white building with multicolored book spines all around the facade, surely hard to miss) has been bringing magic, and memories, to the area since they first opened their doors—at a different location—in 1998. In 2003, they relocated to their current 6,500-square-foot book palace and have been housed there ever since.
Photography By Karlo Gesner
“What makes us different? Every bookstore has books … but the reason people come from around the country and around the world to visit us is because we’re the cat bookstore,” Jason says.
“The cat bookstore” is what Jason—and almost everyone—knows Cupboard Maker Books by, and that’s what makes their shop special.
“In 2011, one of our employees said we ‘must, must, must’ have cats. … She left, but the cats have been here ever since,” Jason says. “We’ve had hundreds of cats here. I think we’re technically up to 257 adopted over the past 13 years.”
Michelle and Jason, both Central Pennsylvania natives, opened the store because they wanted to share their love and fondness for books with the community.
“When we were kids, I read a book a day, and Michelle read a book a day. As an adult, she still does it, and she has for decades. I read a book or two a week, but our world is mostly fiction. Mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance,” Jason says.
Michelle adds that her “superpower” is recommending books.
“For me, it’s all about the books and bringing people to the right book at the right time,” she says. She adds how “excited” she gets being able to work with, promote and support local authors through the books the store carries as well as the various events they're involved with throughout the year.
Recently, an influencer from Kentucky came to the store and asked if they had any signed books. Michelle recommended one by a local author. “I was like, ‘Corpses and Corsets ’ was so cute. I just read it, and you totally need to read it, ” she says. “That’s what I love doing. … It’s all about helping local authors find a voice.”
And, Michelle and Jason both are cat lovers and grew up with cats, so adding them to the shop’s mix was only natural.
Cupboard Maker Books currently works with Loving Care Cat Rescue, of Lemoyne, to connect with stray cats that are looking for their forever home. Jason says the rescue does “all the heavy lifting” like spaying, neutering and vaccinating the cats before bringing them to the bookstore.
“From the day somebody gets here, they come into the kitten cage for a day or two until they get used to their surroundings and everyone’s kind of met each other. Then we let them go out,” Jason says. “Most cats get adopted in one, two, three weeks and find their forever homes.”
However, three cats, Annika, Odin and Mouse, are considered the “resident cats” who live in the bookstore full time. They have a loyal fan base and following, especially on social media, where they have more than 120,000 followers on TikTok alone.
“You put something on social media and it’s a good business post, 50 people see it. You put a cat or two in the exact same thing, you get hundreds or thousands. The stuff that goes viral is the cat videos, not the book videos,” Jason says.
Annika was inherited from Michelle and Jason’s neighbor who passed away, Odin (a fan favorite) was found in a dumpster “covered from head to toe in mud and blood,” and Mouse was the kitten of another cat who was adopted from the bookstore.
The first-ever “bookstore cat,” according to Jason, was Creamsickle, an orange tabby who passed away this year at the age of 22. Creamsickle was loved—and is fondly remembered—by many.
“The cats are the influencers, not us. They receive presents. They just received a book from Simon and Schuster, and they received treats with it,” Michelle says. “They’re also a trick for kids because they give the kids a good impression of the bookstore.”
People even follow along with the cats’ adventures on social media, where they visit (in cat harnesses and backpacks) places like local bakeries, libraries and new businesses. During the pandemic, Jason built a “kitten box” for people to watch the kittens (including Mouse at the time) virtually every morning and night. “There were a lot of folks who said watching the cats helped them get through the isolation,” he says.
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Photography By Karlo Gesner
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Photography By Karlo Gesner
Thanks to the cats, Michelle and Jason have been able to connect with readers and the community on another level and get people excited about physical, tangible books.
“We have a lot of regulars; we have a lot of new people. … I love people being able to see how exciting books can be,” Michelle says. “I love books as art as well, and I think that’s something you can see much easier in a store than just a picture online.”
“The books are the backbone of what we have, but the books and the cats help support each other. It really is a symbiotic relationship,” Jason says. “They always say cats are like liquid the way they lay, but I say cats are magic.”
Cupboard Maker Books | 157 N Enola Rd, Enola 717-732-7288 | cupboardmaker.com
