A recent story in a national paper detailed the closing of a large chain book store in New York City and how that closing might be reflective of the state of book stores in general.

More locally, a Seattle landmark in Pioneer Square for years, the Elliot Bay Book Company recently moved its store to a location just off Pike Street, owners hoping the new home would help them survive financially.

Jason Bailey, who smiles a lot, kept smiling and agreed bookstores may be in a bit of trouble due to Internet competition and also the increasing popularity of electronic readers. Bailey even said a general switch to e-books read on portable pads is probably an inevitability.

But he also added he figures the just opened JJ Books, which Bailey founded with wife June, has at least 20 years of business in front of it before the electronic age of publishing arrives in full force.

“There’s a comfort in holding that book in your hands,” Jason Bailey said, adding there are generations of older readers still devoted to hard-copy books.

As for competition from the Internet, Jason said he believes buying books is like buying a pair of shoes.

“People still want to be able to see the book before they buy, see the condition of it,” he said.

JJ Books (as in “Jason” and “June”) opened in Bothell’s Country Village July 1. The store’s stock consists almost entirely of used books, though both Baileys indicated a hope to add to their smallish section of new titles. They also hope to coordinate more and more signings and other events featuring local writers. The couple plan a Holiday Book Fair in Country Village’s Courtyard Hall in November.

“We really always wanted to be small business owners,” said Jason, who also works as an engineer for Sound Transit. While Jason helps work in the store during the evenings, June runs things during the day.

“I enjoy meeting with people,” said June.

Probably not surprisingly, both she and her husband are big readers. June said she loves talking with customers about their favorite books or authors.

In April, Jason said the couple were starting to get serious about beginning a business of some kind. June had previously run a small business that rented books in her native Thailand. Couple that with their enjoyment of the printed word and a book store seemed a bit of a natural to them. They still weren’t sure quite how to go about things when they noticed a Craig’s List posting announcing the sale of 30,000 used books.

“It was just amazing to get that lucky,” Jason said regarding the book sale. The locally based seller had been running an Internet business. After checking out some of the hundreds of boxes of books, Jason said the next step was filling the biggest U-Haul they could find.

“We had some help from a friend, a very good friend,” Jason added.

After looking up and down Bothell-Everett Highway for a location, Jason added that a friend also suggested the couple look at Country Village as a location.

“Hollywood Video was the proud sponsor of our bookshelves,” he continued with a smile. When the video chain decided to close its Canyon Park location, the Bailey’s had what turned out to be a very short time to remove the store’s shelves.

“That was a project,” Jason said.

JJ Books is deliberately clean and brightly lit, Jason saying he didn’t the sort of subdued mood lighting favored by some book stores. He said he wanted an inviting space in which customers clearly could see what they were buying.

Both Jason and June said business has been surprisingly good so far. Jason added the couple expected to lose money the first year, but are at least covering their expenses. They especially have been surprised by the volume of children’s books sales and have set up weekly story times for youngsters and their parents.

Jason said he doesn’t mind spending time in the store even after putting in eight hours at his day job.

“It’s actually relaxing when I’m here,” he said.

“It’s not really so much work,” June said.