The California mini-chain, Books Inc. will add its 12th location in July 2016 when it open a new outlet in Santa Clara Square in Santa Clara. The mixed use area is being developed by Irvine Company Office Properties near Levi’s Stadium, the home of the San Francisco ‘49ers. Telecommunications firm Ericsson and Whole Foods are among the other tenants.
For the bookstore, the 4,000 sq. ft. store marks a coming home. Books Inc. had a location in nearby San Jose, which it was forced to close in the mid-1990s when Barnes & Noble opened a block away. Borders built a store on the spot Books Inc. vacated.
“We are excited to return to the community we served for so many years. It will be exciting to bring our customer expertise and events programming to a new generation of readers,” says Books Inc. co-owner and CEO Michael Tucker.
Natalie Sacco and Trevor Thomas experienced a different kind of homecoming earlier this month. They left Cleveland and closed on Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, Pa., where Sacco grew up. Thomas lived in nearby Pittsburgh.
“We heard the store was for sale, and we kind of felt it was meant to be,” says Sacco, who was ready to return to the area. “We started researching and it snowballed from there.”
The couple are the third owners of the suburban Pittsburgh bookstore. Laurie Stephens, who purchased the store at the beginning of 2012 from founders Mary Alice Gorman and Richard Goldman put it on the market in January. She wanted to spend more time with her family.
Thomas and Sacco plan to continue many of the projects Stephens began by further expanding the space and programming for children’s books and adding more general interest titles. “We’ll still stick with the mysteries and maintaining the core interest,” says Sacco. In 2010, the bookstore received a Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America.
"Right now," Sacco adds, "a lot of our time is getting used to learn about the business." Both she and her husband are new to the book business.
