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Bear Pond Books
77 Main Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12th, 2014
Contact: Claire Benedict
claire@bearpondbooks.com
Bear Pond Books and Rivendell Books to Merge this Spring
MONTPELIER - Two long time independent bookstores in downtown Montpelier have announced their plans to merge this spring. Rivendell Books will be merging with Bear Pond Books in a process expected to be complete by March 31st.
Rivendell and Bear Pond, located near each other on Montpelier’s Main Street, have been popular destinations for readers and authors for more than a generation. As Claire Benedict, co-owner of Bear Pond Books, notes “Vermont is a great place to have a book store, we’re a state full of readers, writers, and people who support locally owned businesses. . . but the business of bookselling is changing. We needed to make decisions that ensure we can continue to have a strong independent bookstore presence in downtown Montpelier. In this case, that means being able to offer more choice in one location.”
The addition of Rivendell’s inventory to Bear Pond Books’ offerings will dramatically expand choices for customers, Benedict says. “That really is the main change Bear Pond customers will see - more choices, particularly for used, out of print, and harder to find books.”
She expects minimal disruption for shoppers as the transition happens this March. There will be some changes to the in-store layout, a redesign project that she notes fits in well with the upgrades already planned for the second floor Children’s Room using a recently-awarded grant from James Patterson. Both should be complete at the same time.
“Bear Pond is widely recognized for our strong children’s section, to build on that part of our business while also taking the steps to offer a much greater variety of books for readers of all ages is really exciting.”
Benedict and her husband Rob Kasow have owned Rivendell Books since 2002. They purchased Bear Pond Books from original owner Michael Katzenberg in 2006 and Bear Pond Books celebrated its 40th anniversary last year.
"We believe the consolidation of Rivendell and Bear Pond Books into a single location will be the best possible way for us to continue being the vibrant flagship independent bookstore in Montpelier and Central Vermont,” says Rivendell co-owner Rob Kasow, “Combining the stores will allow us to offer the best of both stores and operate from a position of strength going forward. We appreciate the loyal support of our customers and look forward to the future at Bear Pond Books.”
The website www.bearpondbooks.com will keep customers up to date as the merger begins this March. Please check there for details.
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