Michael Fortney has opened a bookstore in the West Goshen Shopping Center, West Chester, Pa., site of the former Chester County Book Co., the Daily Local reported. Fortney was a longtime bookseller at Chester County and brother-in-law of the store's owner Kathy Simoneaux Fortney, who closed the business last July.
"I'm a townie. West Chester not having a bookstore? Didn't seem like a good idea to me," said Michael Fortney.
The new store, which is not affiliated with the previous operation, is initially placing "more emphasis on discount pricing on older stock," with Fortney and a partner working with American Book Co. of Knoxville, Tenn. The bookshop can special order what it doesn't have in stock and carries "tons of audiobooks" as well as print books, according to Fortney.
Currently the business is operating under the name West Chester Books, but that could change. "I may run a contest on the Facebook page" to give it a new name, he said. "Our Facebook page is doing very well." Fortney also noted that "the response has been phenomenal. I've had people cry. I've had people come in and hug me. It's been great, just great." He hopes in the future to bring back some of the features of its predecessor, including author visits, poetry readings and story times. "I'm open to anything the customers might want. I'm listening to them."
Fortney expressed optimism for the future of bookstores generally: "There have been 400 to 500 a year popping up across the country for the last few years. I can't imagine a town without a bookstore. I think bookstores are important to the community. People want a place to come and meet, and a place to run into each other. There's a lot of that going on here."