A group that includes the husband of the late founder of Explore Booksellers, Aspen, Colo., has advertised in support of continuing the bookstore, which is for sale.
The ad in the Aspen Times read: "Our beloved Explore Booksellers of 39 years is for sale. There is a good chance that whoever buys the property will not continue the bookstore. Explore is more than a bookstore. It is one of those last places that is essential to the life of a healthy community. A group of locals, second home owners and visitors are trying to find a viable way to buy the property and save Explore." The ad includes a contact e-mail.
Billionaire owners Sam and Cheryl Wyly are asking $6.5 million for the business and the building. They bought Explore in 2007 after founder and longtime owner Katherine Thalberg died in 2006 and her children put the store and building up for sale.
Thalberg's husband, Bill Stirling, a real estate agent and former mayor of Aspen, wouldn't divulge the identity of anyone in the group that is supporting the store, telling the Aspen Daily News only that the group is "working hard" on the matter.