Porter Square Books Owners to Sell Half of Store to Employees

David Sandberg and Dina Mardell, owners of Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass., have entered a succession agreement to sell the store to nine management-level employees, Bookselling This Week reported. First, Sandberg and Mardell will sell 50% of the equity of the store to the nine employees, who will then repay that money over the next 10 years from their share of the store's profits. When Mardell and Sandberg eventually decide to retire, they will offer to sell the other 50% of the store to the group.

Sandberg told BTW that he and Mardell, who have owned Porter Square Books since 2013, are selling half the store at the same value at which they bought it. The agreement allows the employee group to "get ownership now but to be able to pay for it over time, and not need to come up with money right away." He noted that he and Mardell are not "giving the store to them, but we are financing it for them."

While Sandberg and Mardell have no plans to retire in the immediate future, they did feel it was time to start thinking about a plan. They wanted "the people who end up owning it and running it after us [to be] the people who work here now." And until they do decide to retire, they'll keep operating control of the bookstore, though Sandberg emphasized that the decision process is "very collaborative" already.

Among the group of nine employees who will buy the store are marketing director Josh Cook and buyer Dale Szczeblowski, who was one of the founders who sold the store in 2013. According to Sandberg, "all nine members of the management group who were offered the opportunity accepted it."

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