Hello Buncombe County!
Starting this week, every Tuesday we’ll be spotlighting a local small business that helps make Buncombe County what it is. The goal is simple: share their story, highlight the people behind the vision, and connect our readers with the neighbors building something meaningful here in the mountains.
We’re kicking things off with Willbloom Books, an amazing self-renovated green mobile bookstore owned by Lindsay Johnson. What started as a lifelong love of literature, flipping pages before she could even read, became a dream she has transformed into reality. After converting a retired school bus into a bookstore, Lindsay launched Willbloom in October and has been bringing stories to markets and pop-ups across the county ever since. If you happened to see the bus glowing at the Weaverville Candlelight Stroll, you already know the magic she’s building. ✨
Tell us the story behind your business. What inspired you to start it, and how did it all begin?
Literature is, and has always been, my life’s passion. Before I could even read, I was engrossed with the physicality of books, touching them and flipping through their pages, desperate to understand what I was missing. Once I was able to make sense of the letters on the page, I knew that my life would forever orbit around the books and stories that I read. As an avid reader, and someone who craved community through the books I read, opening a bookstore became my goal. Therefore, I focused my schooling and post graduation jobs around this goal, and after gaining experience and the knowledge I felt necessary to succeed I finally took the first concrete steps towards achieving it. I decided to pursue the mobile bookstore model and purchased a retired school bus in June of 2025, finished the conversion with the help of friends in October, and have been operating as a small independent bookstore since then.
Why Buncombe County? What made you choose this area to plant roots?
I moved a lot as a kid and therefore I have never really been able to confidently call one place my childhood home. I grew up in Kentucky, but also Washington, Indiana, and Virginia. The friends that I would make in each state had only ever lived in that place, but it felt like I was always leaving. While I did love moving, and getting the opportunity to see so many areas and experience different things, I did crave a stillness and for a single place to be home. I moved to Asheville in 2021 to attend college at UNCA, and now, having gotten married last September, my husband and I knew we wanted to remain in the area, surrounded by mountains and our friends. I am so glad to have my roots planted in Buncombe County.
What’s something about your business that most people don’t know?
Most people do not know that my business, Willbloom Books, is named after a character from Big Fish, a beloved story from my childhood. I am a massively sentimental person, and so when I was brainstorming names for the business I wanted it to hold personal significance, while also being a name that is easy to remember and say for customers.
What’s been your biggest challenge as a small business owner here?
Specifically, it is quite challenging to be a mobile small business owner. I am grateful to have been welcomed with open arms by my community, it really has been a dream come true. Dozens of businesses have allowed me to pop-up at their establishments, and I want to say a special thanks to Adam from The Local Collective for allowing me to have a weekly event in their front lawn. However, as a mobile business, I am required to work in partnership with a business in order to operate. Ideally, I would have pop-ups several times a week, every week, but that is not often feasible as most businesses already jam packed schedules of their own.
What’s been your most rewarding moment so far?
Every December the town of Weaverville puts on a holiday event called The Candlelight Stroll and I was lucky enough to be a part of the event this past December, and the enthusiasm and joy that I felt that night was unparalleled. People were taking pictures of the bus and the Christmas decorations I strung on the exterior, they were giving me compliments and asking me questions and telling me how proud I should be of what I have built. A woman cried from joy, and I cried with her, because it felt like I had finally done it. I had worked to build a space to celebrate the written word, to excite people with literature, and it truly felt like I had done it. As I was driving home that night, through downtown Weaverville, a woman and her daughter were walking on the sidewalk and I heard the woman yell out to me, “yay willbloom we love you!” That night and those interactions that I had have been the most rewarding moments.
What’s next for you? Anything exciting coming up that readers should know about?
I hope to one day transition from a mobile business to a brick and mortar shop, but there are no concrete plans for that change quite yet! As I have only been open since October I’m in no rush, and I just want to keep connecting with the community and strengthening my presence in town.
Spending time with Lindsay and learning about her journey was a reminder of how much heart exists in this community. If you haven’t visited Willbloom yet, we hope you’ll catch one of her upcoming pop-ups soon. You can explore her website, event calendar, and socials below to see where she’ll be next!
We hope you liked this new edition. Please send over any feedback as we always read every reply and truly appreciate hearing from you. Thanks for being part of the Buncombe County Digest community.
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