Another way to seed urban retail

Hunger. In this case for information. See "Surprise ending: All his life, Darren Vincent was a troublemaker and a fighter. Then he decided to read a book," from the Charlotte Observer.

TRAVIS DOVE/Observer Staff. Darren Vincent, 34, opened RealEyes bookstore on North Davidson Street in early 2005. The store will present the Charlotte Literary Festival this coming weekend.

From the article:

Vincent's story begins in Niagara Falls, N.Y., where people knew him as a roughneck, a troublemaker. He was a rap singer with muscles and tattoos and a scar from a barroom brawl. But one day, Vincent says, someone convinced him to read a book about facing fear. It was the first book he ever read from front to back -- and it awakened a hunger in him.

"I was a kid from the 'hood, and all of the sudden," he says, "I realized I didn't know anything." He stopped fighting. He left New York. He moved to Charlotte. And he opened a bookstore to open other people's eyes....

Last year, Vincent's commitment grew further when he started the Charlotte Literary Festival, which drew Nikki Giovanni as well as local authors. This year Catherine Coulter and Zane are expected to participate.