Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 09/30/2026

The Story Emporium & Bookshop LLC (“The Story Emporium & Bookshop,” “SE&B,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the information you provide to us.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information when you visit our website, interact with us online or in person, register for events, make a purchase, subscribe to our communications, or otherwise interact with The Story Emporium & Bookshop.

By using our website or providing information to us, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with SE&B, we may collect information such as:

  • Contact information, including your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, and other information you voluntarily provide.

  • Account or registration information, such as information provided when registering for an event, joining a mailing list, participating in a promotion, or creating an account through a third-party service.

  • Purchase and transaction information, including information necessary to process purchases, reservations, event registrations, or other transactions. Payment card information may be collected and processed directly by our payment processor rather than stored by SE&B.

  • Communications, including messages, inquiries, reviews, feedback, or other information you send to us.

  • Marketing preferences, including whether you have opted in to receive email or text messages from us.

  • Website and technical information, which may include your IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, referring website, approximate location, and other information collected through cookies, analytics, or similar technologies.

  • Information you voluntarily provide, such as information submitted through forms, surveys, contests, giveaways, or other activities.

We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal information unless it is reasonably necessary for a specific purpose and provided with appropriate consent.

2. How We Use Your Information

We may use information we collect to:

  • Process purchases, event registrations, reservations, and other transactions.

  • Provide products, services, events, and other offerings you request.

  • Communicate with you about purchases, registrations, events, or inquiries.

  • Send newsletters, promotional emails, and other marketing communications when you have opted in or where otherwise permitted by law.

  • Send SMS/text messages when you have expressly opted in to our SMS program.

  • Announce new books, products, events, workshops, promotions, and other happenings at SE&B.

  • Respond to questions, requests, comments, and customer service inquiries.

  • Administer contests, giveaways, raffles, and other promotions.

  • Improve our website, services, events, products, and customer experience.

  • Understand how visitors use our website and improve its functionality.

  • Prevent fraud, abuse, unauthorized activity, or other security issues.

  • Comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, or governmental requests.

  • Carry out other purposes disclosed to you at the time information is collected.

3. Email Communications

If you voluntarily subscribe to our email list, we may use your email address to send newsletters, event announcements, promotions, and other information about The Story Emporium & Bookshop.

You may unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link included in our emails or by contacting us directly.

Unsubscribing from promotional communications does not necessarily prevent us from sending transactional or service-related communications, such as information about a purchase or event registration.

4. SMS/Text Messages

If you expressly opt in to receive text messages from SE&B, we may send recurring SMS messages regarding events, promotions, special offers, new arrivals, and other bookshop-related information.

Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.

You may opt out at any time by replying STOP to an SMS message from us. For assistance, reply HELP or contact us using the information below.

Your consent to receive marketing text messages is not a condition of purchasing goods or services.

Please see our SMS Terms & Conditions for additional information about our text messaging program.

5. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website and third-party services we use may use cookies, pixels, analytics tools, and similar technologies.

These technologies may collect information about how visitors interact with our website, such as pages viewed, links clicked, browser type, device type, and approximate location.

We may use this information to:

  • Operate and maintain our website.

  • Understand website traffic and usage.

  • Improve website functionality and user experience.

  • Measure the effectiveness of marketing and advertising.

  • Remember certain preferences.

You may be able to control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

6. Third-Party Services

We may use third-party companies and services to help us operate our business and website. These services may include, depending on our current operations:

  • Payment processors

  • Ecommerce and online ordering platforms

  • Event registration and ticketing platforms

  • Email marketing providers

  • SMS/text messaging providers

  • Website hosting and management services

  • Analytics providers

  • Social media platforms

  • Shipping and fulfillment providers

  • Accounting, business, and administrative services

These third parties may receive or process information as necessary to provide services to us.

Third-party services have their own privacy policies and terms, and we encourage you to review them when appropriate.

7. Payments

When you make a purchase through SE&B or a third-party platform, payment information may be processed by a third-party payment provider.

We generally do not have access to or store your complete payment card number.

Payment information is subject to the privacy policy and security practices of the applicable payment processor.

8. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may disclose personal information to third parties when reasonably necessary to operate our business, including:

  • Service providers and vendors that perform services on our behalf.

  • Payment processors and transaction providers.

  • Event registration and ticketing providers.

  • Email and SMS communication providers.

  • Website, hosting, analytics, and technology providers.

  • Shipping and fulfillment providers.

  • Professional advisors, such as accountants, attorneys, or insurers.

  • Government authorities or other parties when required by law or legal process.

  • Other parties when necessary to protect our rights, property, customers, or the safety of others.

We may also disclose information in connection with a business transfer, such as a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or similar transaction.

9. Social Media, Photos, and Public Content

SE&B may maintain social media accounts and may photograph or record events, activities, or gatherings at the bookshop for promotional or archival purposes.

If you voluntarily submit content to us or publicly tag, mention, or interact with SE&B on social media, we may be able to view or share that content subject to the applicable platform's rules and your privacy settings.

We will make reasonable efforts to respect requests regarding the use of identifiable images, particularly for children.

10. Children's Privacy

Our website is not directed toward children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13 without appropriate parental involvement or consent.

Because SE&B hosts family-friendly events and serves children and families, parents and guardians are responsible for supervising children's interactions with our website and online services.

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us online without appropriate consent, please contact us so that we can review and, where appropriate, delete the information.

11. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, provide services, maintain appropriate business and transaction records, resolve disputes, comply with legal obligations, and enforce our agreements.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the purpose for which it was collected.

12. Data Security

We take reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

However, no method of transmitting or storing information online is completely secure. We cannot guarantee the absolute security of information transmitted to or stored by us or our service providers.

13. Your Choices and Rights

Depending on where you live and applicable law, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, which may include the right to:

  • Request access to personal information we maintain about you.

  • Request correction of inaccurate information.

  • Request deletion of certain information.

  • Opt out of certain marketing communications.

  • Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

  • Exercise other rights provided by applicable privacy laws.

To make a privacy-related request, please contact us using the information below. We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests.

14. Do Not Track

Our website may not respond to all “Do Not Track” signals or similar browser mechanisms. Because there is currently no universally accepted standard for responding to such signals, our practices may vary depending on the technologies and services used on our website.

15. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to websites, social media platforms, retailers, event platforms, or other third-party websites.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of third-party websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of those websites before providing them with personal information.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business, services, technology, or legal requirements.

When we make changes, we will update the “Effective Date” at the top of this policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically for the most current version.

17. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how The Story Emporium & Bookshop handles personal information, please contact us:

The Story Emporium & Bookshop LLC
202 W Hwy 79
Hutto, TX 78634
Phone: 512-642-3062
Email: contact@thestoryemporiumandbookshop.com
Website: thestoryemporiumandbookshop.com

Last Updated: 09/30/2026