Talks of a new bookstore have already started
The Athens Book Center was slated to close Monday, but its doors will stay open longer.
The new and used bookstore on East State Street struggled to keep up with competition, Anne Thomas, bookkeeper and co-manager of the Athens Book Center, said.
Larger companies, such as Amazon and Wal-Mart, can buy books in bulk and offer them at a cheaper price. The Athens Book Center only buys a few books at a time, Thomas said, and can’t sell them at the prices of its competitors. Thomas said the store has seen less patrons come in due to cheaper prices elsewhere.
“There just wasn’t enough business,” she said.
The bookstore opened in the 1990s and has since moved and been under new ownership and management. Jean Stephens bought the store in 2009 and remained as owner until she died in 2012. Her husband, Ray Stephens, took over as owner after her passing.
The bookstore was planned to close Aug. 31 in order to make room for the building’s new tenant, Synapse Gym. The educational center that provides classes and tutoring has a spot on North Court Street was set to re-open in the bookstore’s space in November.
“The gym, Synapse, was set to move in Sept. 1,” Susan Lee-Meeder, a clerk at the bookstore, said. “Their funding situation changed and didn’t come through.”
Without Synapse Gym moving in, Lee-Meeder said Athens Book Center is able to stay open until mid- to late-September. The bookstore is offering a 60 percent discount on all books and items in the store.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="262883fc-49bf-11e5-9c84-a322aeb538ed"}}
It is also selling furniture, such as bookshelves and chairs. The store is trying to liquidate as much as possible, Thomas said.
Though the center’s closing date has been postponed, talks to establish a new bookstore have already begun.
“We know the community wants a new bookstore,” Lee-Meeder said. “We are trying to make it happen.”
Tad Cuckler, a dedicated patron of the Athens Book Center for more than 10 years, is heading the money raising effort for the new store.
“I think we need a local bookstore,” Cuckler said. “The fundraiser is to create a community awareness … for people to really appreciate their local bookstore.”
A specific goal has not yet been established, and the fundraiser is in an early planning stage.
Some of the ideas Lee-Meeder has for the new bookstore include expanding the children’s section, being in a different, smaller building and being more of a cultural center for the town.
The potential bookstore will not be affiliated with the Athens Book Center and will not take its name.
“In a bookstore there is a lot of sharing and a lot of conversation,” Cuckler said. “Athens would be a pinnacle place for ideas with the university and its diverse population and demographic. … I think it is the perfect place for a community bookstore.”
The store has changed the remainder of its hours to Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
eg655211@ohio.edu
