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Normals was formed on a tiny budget in 1990 as a collective of 9 people who wanted to work for themselves and to form a certain cultural presence in Baltimore. The stock has always been good and broad, drawing on the lure of Waverly as a "book neighborhood" and proximity to Johns Hopkins University. At the same time, Normals was a fairly unusual place to visit because a.) there was no "boss," and b.) the collective was involved in a lot of publishing, performance, organizing, alternative thinking, politics, & "strange" sensibilities. This kept things lively, sometimes resulting in concerts or openings in the store. The place has always meant more than just selling stuff. Our first home was a shelf in a second hand clothes store (Las Locas) where we sold our books on consignment. For several years after that, the collective operated a book store and a record store across the street from one another. Over time, we reduced in size to four people (Fred, Rupert, John & Walt) and moved to a luxurious single location on the same block with lots of space & big windows. Business picked up, Walt built a lot more shelving, and a few new friends came to work part-time, and that brings us up to the present & to a hopeful future.