[FRIAM] Book Lovers of Santa FE

[Steve Smith]

We got the word that Peggy Frank found someone to carry Book Mountain 
forward...   a couple already working in the bookstores of Santa Fe for 
years...   Lauren Ayles? and Phil Geronimo... also poets/writers.

Even though they are nominally a "paperback exchange", their inventory 
has grown to include a lot of quality non-fiction, especially since they 
moved down the street a few years ago.  I get the feeling that Lauren 
and Phil will probably move them even more in that direction as time 
goes forward.

Our credit there is well above what we could spend down responsibly 
(without filling our house again) and will likely donate the bulk of it, 
we were honestly just glad to have someone make sure the thousands of 
books we brought them last year (thousands more to other stores in SFe 
as well) aren't going to a pulp mill or landfill.

If anyone here still reads paper, go on in and check them out!

    http://bookmountainsantafe.com/

On 3/1/23 5:55 PM, Steve Smith wrote:
> Seems I missed a trick (or two) again... Peggy apparently started 
> looking to be bought-out/partnered over 6 months ago and it is only 
> now (after an acute health challenge?) that she seems to be on a 
> mission to sell or shutter in short order.
>
> I'm futzing around with examples of people who have used GoFundMe 
> programs to rescue bookstores (financially) and it looks like some of 
> those were resounding successes.   The key here is probably as much 
> finding someone(s) willing and able to manage such a store, even if 
> funds for it get raised.  I have no idea of the magnitude of what she 
> needs to be released from this obligation she built over 40+ years.
>
> https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/queen-of-book-mountain-writing-lifes-last-chapter/article_fc4ede6e-0ce4-11ed-b550-f774b8b7aed5.html 
>
>
> On 3/1/23 3:43 PM, Steve Smith wrote:
>> I was just in Book Mountain which has been operating in SFe primarily 
>> as a paperback exchange since 1980 (just before I moved to the area) 
>> and discovered that the owner, Peggy Frank intends to shut down, 
>> probably sooner rather than later.  Here is an article about her move 
>> and rejuvenation of the store a couple of years ago:
>>
>> https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/business/book-mountain-alive-and-well-in-new-location/article_9003513a-3c8b-11ea-a81e-373351759896.html 
>>
>>
>> The new digs and layout were a modest upgrade from what she had going 
>> before, and has a somewhat wider range of books shelved now, though 
>> the emphasis is still on high-turnover paperback. She has one of the 
>> most extensive collections of Science Fiction I think you fill find 
>> this side of Powells (Portland) or Tattered Cover (Denver).
>>
>> I probably unloaded 1/4 of my "2 cords of books" leftover from *my* 
>> bookstore (Hunt and Gather circa 2006) on her for trade (my credit is 
>> much too large to begin to drain in the short term).
>>
>> What I am hoping is that one of her customers or someone in the book 
>> loving circle would swoop in and buy it outright.   I have already 
>> talked to some of the other booksellers in town and she has already 
>> approached them offering to sell them her inventory, but the ideal 
>> would be for it to remain a viable business.  Her current 
>> setup/inventory/curation works and is by far more valuable than the 
>> mere inventory (which would need to be sorted, shelved, etc. again).
>>
>> If anyone here knows of anyone suitable for taking on such an 
>> operation I highly recommend it, but I suspect the time is short. 
>> Peggy is just coming out of some health-challenges and I sense she 
>> will not be willing/able to wait very long.    I am holding out a 
>> slim hope that one of the other used-sellers in SFe might pick it up 
>> as a satellite (Op Cit already has had multiple locations).
>>
>> In any case, spread the word if you can.   Maybe there is a coop 
>> model or multiple-partner arrangement that might keep it going and 
>> help Peggy leave the business cleanly/gracefully.
>>
>> - Steve
>>
>>
>>
>>
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