Three-month-old Fire Petal Books in Centerville, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, became the latest children’s bookstore casualty this year. This spring, former Gibbs Smith associate editor Michelle Witte used social media to raise funds to open the bookstore. But when her fundraising efforts fell short of her $40,000 goal, she scaled back her events plans and went ahead with opening the store anyway. She even hired one staffer, former Harvard Book Store children’s bookseller Rachel Anderson.
Unfortunately, despite Witte’s media savvy, the store struggled with getting quickly established in the community. In a twitter post on Friday, Witte announced that she would liquidate everything over the weekend. “We gave it our best, but it wasn’t enough,” she tweeted. To well wishers she responded, “What happens, happens, but I’ve given it my all, so I have no regrets.” For now, Witte is taking some time off.
