"I stood in front of the store, and I could see everything," says Interabang general manager Kyle Hall. "The roof was off, the walls were down, the whole place was just shredded...shredded."
Everything had changed. Nothing looked the same. Customers couldn't browse the Fiction section, nobody could buy a novel, no one could work in the facility. Physically, everything had changed for Interabang Books. And that was upsetting for long-time customers.
"The response from customers is what makes you cry happy tears," says Hall. "They're all so supportive and concerned and distraught at the idea of losing Interabang. But we've tried hard since the tornado to reassure everybody that we are not gone, we are not closed."
You see, Interabang has an excellent online business through their virtual store, InterabangBooks.com.
"People tend to think that we (local bookstores) don't do business like a lot of the online giants do," says Hall. "People can order online and contribute to our coffers, and make our registers ring, which people have been doing this week."
Hall says the store is close to deciding on a new brick and mortar location, that they would like to have open in time for the holiday shopping season, which starts in late November.
And he says the biggest hero of this story is the owner of Interabang Books, Nancy Perot.
"She is the one who said before noon on Monday, 'There is no question of our closing, there is no doubt that you all still have your jobs with Interabang Books.'"
A tornado is the ultimate in disruption. But Interabang Books and so many other businesses in the path of Sunday night's tornadoes around DFW are saying, in the end, "Nothing has changed."