New stores prep for openings in Texas and North Carolina; a store takes root in the former home of a long-time Pennsylvania bookstore; an Illinois bookstore considers going nonprofit; and more.
Children’s Bookstore Coming to Raleigh: Former teacher and librarian Christine Brenner is opening Read With Me, a children’s book and art shop, in March. On January 16, Brenner launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise $50,000 to set up the bookstore, art gallery, and workshop for children ages 0-17.
Book Warehouse Opening in Laredo: Book Warehouse, with 19 discount stores across the country from Auburn, Wash., to Daytona Beach, Fla., is opening a new location in March in conjunction with the opening of the Laredo Outlets in Laredo, Tex. The chain offers books discounted 50-80%.
West Chester Books Thrives in Former Home of Chester County: Michael Fortney, a longtime employee and brother-in-law of retired owner Kathy Simoneaux of the Chester County Book Co., opened a store in the same location in the West Goshen Shopping Center in West Goshen, Pa., last November. “The response has been phenomenal,” Fortney told the Daily Local. Chester County closed in July.
Indigo to Relocate Corporate Office: Canadian chain Indigo signed a long-term lease to move its home office to a mixed-use development at King Portland Centre in Toronto in 2019. The new offices, which are nearly 15,000 sq. ft. larger than their current ones, will be close to 80,000 sq. ft. spread over four floors.
Time to Dissolve Seminary Co-op?: Although sales are up for the first time in more than a decade at Chicago’s Seminary Cooperative Bookstores, it still ended the year with a $205,136 operating deficit. At the annual meeting last month, director Jeff Deutsch suggested changing the co-op’s articles of incorporation and becoming a nonprofit.
Towson Circle B&N to Reconfigure: Retail Properties, which owns Towson Circle in Towson, Md., wants to increase visibility for its businesses. As part of its redevelopment plans, Barnes & Noble will consolidate onto street level and give up its below-grade space. Retail Properties is also planning to build 371 apartments.
Willow Books Closes in Acton, Mass.: On Thursday, January 12, David Didriksen began a closing sale for the bookstore that he founded 20 years ago. In May 2014, he put the store briefly on the market before deciding to continue to run it. “If I was 10 years younger, I wouldn’t be closing,” Didriksen told WCVB-TV. “But I’m at that point where my kids don’t want to do it and I didn’t find a buyer.”
Obituary: Dutton’s Books Owner Dave Dutton (1937-2017): Longtime Los Angeles bookseller Dave Dutton died from complications from Parkinson’s on January 13. He was 79. Dutton’s death came almost exactly ten years after he closed the North Hollywood Dutton’s store. In 1961, he returned from Europe to manage his parent’s bookstore for what was supposed to be only a year. In the mid-1970s, he and his wife, Judy, took over ownership of Dutton’s and opened shops in other locations. “My dad loved not only literature, but he loved people, and our bookstore was a place for everybody in Los Angeles to gather, and to browse, or just to hang out,” his son, Dirk Dutton, told the LA Times.
