Schuler Books, which has three stores in Michigan and is owned by Bill and Cecile Fehsenfeld, is buying Nicola's Books, the Ann Arbor store that owner Nicola Rooney put up for sale in January. Under the agreement, the store will continue to operate as Nicola's Books and Rooney will stay on as a consultant during the transition.
At the time she announced Nicola's was for sale, Rooney said she wanted to make a change due to family issues and would do so gradually if need be. "We're not doing this because we're in any sort of a crisis. I'm doing this to ensure the future long-term health of the business."
Yesterday, Rooney commented: "Joining the family of Schuler bookstores ensures that the future of Nicola's Books will be in good hands. The familiar faces of our booksellers will be staying on, so customers should notice few changes. During discussions with Bill and Cecile, I have found that we have remarkably similar views on what is important about keeping a local community bookstore strong and lively. I am sure that both organizations will learn from each other, and will evolve into a stronger group as a result. Our current staff looks forward to working with respected fellow industry professionals."
Nicola's was founded in 1995, when Rooney bought a four-year-old Little Professor franchise store and changed its name. The 9,800 square foot store is in the Westgate Shopping Center. Rooney has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Cambridge University and worked in that field for several decades, until the mid 1990s, when her company was bought and her job transferred to Germany. Last year Nicola's won the Pannell Award, cited for its "over and above" commitment to children's books and "partnering skills to benefit children, families, and the community at large." In February, Rooney won the 2014 Community Book Award, sponsored by the Kerrytown BookFest and awarded to the person in the Greater Ann Arbor area who helps create and retain "a vital book culture." She and the store were cited for hosting or sponsoring more than 200 events last year, serving schools at book fairs, providing books for library events in the area and hosting book clubs, writer's groups and Master Gardeners' lectures, among other things. Rooney serves on the board of the Ann Arbor Book Festival, is a sponsor and partner of Kerrytown BookFest and has served on the board of Washtenaw Literacy for 10 years.
Schuler Books has stores in Grand Rapids, Lansing and Okemos. Cecile Fehsenfeld said, "This key location in Southeast Michigan will complement our existing three locations throughout West and mid-Michigan. We are thrilled to add Nicola's to our family of bookstores, and will continue to provide the great service and community programming that Nicola's Books' loyal base of long-term customers has supported for so many years."
Bill Fehsenfeld noted that he and his wife met while both were working as booksellers at Ulrich's Bookstore in Ann Arbor, and both are University of Michigan graduates. "It feels like we are coming home."
"We are very excited to become an integral part of the growth and vitality of the Ann Arbor community," Cecile Fehsenfeld added. "We look forward to great things from our new relationship with Nicola's Books, a great bookstore, and are excited to become part of an enthusiastic network of locally owned businesses in the area. We are confident that Michigan's readership will continue to grow in its support of local and independent businesses like ours."
Schuler Books was founded in 1982 and evolved over the years, once selling sizable amounts of music and film, adding used books and sidelines. It now has Chapbook Cafes in each shop, an Espresso Book Machine and a publishing imprint, the Chapbook Press. Schuler grew steadily to five stores, but in January 2013 closed its store in downtown Grand Rapids, which it called "an experiment with an urban format store," and in April, its closed its Walker, Mich., store, which wasn't as profitable as it needed to be to renew its lease for 10 years.
