Book Stop Plus gets new owner

A Bartlett bookstore that came within days of closing has another chance to survive.

Andrea Russell purchased the city’s only privately owned book shop on July 25. She officially re-opened the doors on Aug. 1, in time to serve high school students with the required reading materials that have been one of the store’s staples. The store is located at 2810 Bartlett Rd # 8.

“It was steady on the first day,” said Russell, who also said she hopes to have a store grand opening once she has things better organized.

Russell purchased the store from Carolyn Wright, who had owned the store for several years. Wright’s health had declined in part because of Parkinson’s disease. She announced in the spring that she wanted to sell the store, but would close by the end of July if she did not. That’s when Russell stepped in just in time to save it.

Russell declined to disclose how much she paid for the store. She said she still will run the store in much the way Wright did, but with a few notable exceptions. Russell will continue to buy back used books, but she no longer will offer an extended credit for those books.

“In other words, I’m not going to run a tab,” she said. That means those who exchange books for store credit will have to use it that day.

However, Russell said she hopes customers will continue to bring in their used books, particularly textbooks.

“I think there are a lot of students who will benefit from those used books,” she said.

Russell also hopes to computerize the inventory and re-establish the store’s website. She is uncertain what that site’s name will be, as the previous site’s name was purchased by a third-party vendor. She hopes to be able to retrieve that name and then offer the store’s inventory online.

Because Russell is a license Notary, she is offering that service at the store, too. She also hopes that she can provide parents with home-school curricula, eventually.

Meanwhile, the store is Russell’s first. A Bartlett resident since 1994, she previously worked for a law firm that closed earlier this year. That’s when she decided to retire, she said, until opting to try her hand at running the store.

Russell said the store will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. It will be closed Sundays and Mondays.