BookHampton plans to close its stores in East Hampton and Southhampton, N.Y., at the end of the year after more than 40 years in business, unless a potential new owner comes forward. Noting the stores were doing well, owner Charline Spektor said it was time to start a new chapter in her life: "Our store is still run by book-lovers and still cherished by book-lovers and you walk down Main Street and people are still buzzing about books. I've loved every moment of operating BookHampton. It's been an honor.
"My decision to move on is strictly personal. I want to focus all my energy on the nation's gun violence crisis, and be able to fully participate in reclaiming our country's sanity and safety. I had to make a choice. And now I think we're all hoping that someone will come along, a white knight who'll step in and rescue BookHampton; that would be a fairy tale ending."
Spektor told Dan's Papers "the booksellers that we have are people who really read books--they don't pretend to read books. They know books. They have a depth of book knowledge. That's an incredible resource and that shouldn't be lost. So my sincere hope is that someone or some group of people will come along and say this is too good to let go of--because it is. It's something irretrievable."
