Palo Alto used to have seven (!) bookshops downtown; now there is but one but that survivor is indeed run by a pair of "book ladies" as you describe (except for the tea or coffee).
I had a vacation house in a small town of about 2500 people that had a similar bookshop with a bunch of the usual staples and a somewhat esoteric mix of others. In a very deeply "red" area the owner also carried a lot of books that would definitely not appeal to that crowd, and they sold well. She eventually sold the business and it became a boring bookshop.
One thing that matters to me is opinion. One day I decided I had to see what the fuss about Ayn Rand was all about. So I went into another favorite palo alto bookshop (now gone) and asked the owner where they were as I couldn't find them on the shelf. He got a funny look on his face and said, "Oh, we always keep a few around for thoooose people as he led me to the spot.