On Ariel's Closing

Last week, Susan and Dean Avery announced plans to close 34-year-old Ariel Booksellers in New Paltz, New York, by late fall. "We've had a really great run," Susan Avery recently told BTW. "We are very valued by our community, and I hope when our customers look at all the wonderful books they got from Ariel, they'll think of us."

Although the bookstore has had a long and successful run, recent years were not good. "We've had three pretty bad years," Avery said. "It's been flat or going down a little -- a little, not a lot -- with all of our expenses going the other way. Things became more and more stressful. We tried many ways to save it."

The Averys decided to close the business before the store's financial circumstances deteriorated further. "In the end, we decided that if we were going to have to close, we'd rather close on our own terms while we still had some life left," said Avery. "But we were on life support and decided to pull the feeding tube. We wanted to get out at a point where we could still pay our bills, so we could go out clean. We didn't want to say we went broke."

At the time she spoke to BTW, Avery was coordinating a postcard mailing to approximately 350 of their best customers to inform them of the closing and upcoming sales. "We'll have lots of sales to liquidate as much as we can," she said. "We'll start the sales in October -- it'll be nice for people looking to get bargains for the holidays. Everyone has been asking what they can do. I tell them to come in and buy books."

Most New Paltz residents aren't letting go of Ariel easily. "People want to save the store," Avery said. "I've gotten really nice letters and phone calls saying how much the store means to them and that they want to keep the store open. It's very sweet, but we can't save the store."

One Ariel devotee took a slightly different tack, however. Avery said, "One of our customers said, 'You've done a great job. It's been wonderful for the community and now you deserve a rest.' I really appreciated that. I'm trying to look on the positive side."

So far Avery's future plans include "at least four weeks of consecutive vacation" and visiting with her grandson. She also will go see some of her colleagues in the book business. "I plan to stay connected with booksellers -- they're one of the most wonderful parts of the business and some of my closest friends," she said. "No one understands me like they do. They are some of the best people in the world. I wish them the best."

Avery's vacation might involve a cross-country tour of some of her favorite independents, she said. "I'd like to see Tattered Cover. I've never been there. There are a lot of bookstores I want to see. I 'd like to go back to Changing Hands, that's a great store. I want to see Betsy Burton's [The King's English] and Chuck and Dee Robinson's [Village Books] up in Washington. I'd like to go back to Mitchell Kaplan's [Books & Books]. Oh! And Nancy Olson at Quail Ridge, I've been talking about that ... and Harry W. Schwartz. And if anyone needs me to jump behind the register, I'm ready to do that." --Karen Schechner