Indies Partner to Open Store in Former Waldenbooks

Indie booksellers Susan Novotny, whose businesses include Staff Picks Press, The Troy Book Makers, The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, and Market Block Books in Troy, New York, and David Didriksen of Willow Books in Acton, Massachusetts, have teamed with Jeff Levy, owner of Wakefield Mall in Wakefield, Rhode Island, to open a new bookstore in a former Waldenbooks location. Wakefield Books will open in the Wakefield Mall on Saturday, February 12, with former Waldenbooks employees on staff.

“David, Jeff, and I bring over 100 years of combined experience in retail and bookselling to this venture,” Novotny said in a statement. “What we saw in [former Waldenbooks manager] Bob Ryan and the staff was an impressive loyalty and dedication to bookselling and the community. Our combined chemistry is working beautifully, and Wakefield, Rhode Island, will be among the first communities across the nation where the book phoenix rises from the ashes.”

This past Christmas, when parent company Borders announced the liquidation of Wakefield’s Waldenbooks, reaction in the Wakefield community was one of “grief,” said Ryan. However, he, the new owners, and staffers Sue Martin and Kim Knowlton are now looking forward to growing Wakefield Books and inviting readers to share in the new venture. In an e-mail to BTW, they said: “As big chains start closing and contracting, more opportunities are presented for new independent ventures. [At Wakefield Books,] we won’t just serve the community, we will be part of the community.”

Although the growing popularity of e-readers and digital media presents challenges for brick-and-mortar stores, “smaller, community-based bookstores that are run in a business-minded fashion will survive,” said Didriksen. “Just because we have new toys on the market doesn’t mean books and bookstores are going to go away.”

The Wakefield Books project has brought the fun back into bookselling for everyone involved, said Novotny.