Back of Beyond Books, Moab, Utah, is for sale. Andy Nettell, who owns the store with his wife, Marcee, and partners, said in an announcement that "2021 will be our best year ever in the trade. We've achieved a good mix of new, used and rare books, plus a fun quirky assortment of gift items, cards, puzzles and sidelines. The store has never looked better and is on solid footing. With this backdrop, [we] all agree now is the time to sell the store. We are ready for new challenges and look forward to finding the perfect owner to carry on the legacy of Back of Beyond Books."
To help with the sale, Back of Beyond Books has hired a broker, Steve Hitchcock at Touchstone Business Advisors, who will be the contact for interested parties. The owners are selling only the bookstore, not the building, "but will work with a buyer to ensure Back of Beyond stays in the same location in which it opened 32 years ago." The asking price is $475,000, which doesn't include the inventory of about $300,000 but does include furniture, fixtures and equipment. Annual gross revenue is about $1.3 million, and cash flow is $250,000.
Back of Beyond Books specializes in natural history, environmental literature, Southwestern guidebooks and maps, Native American books and western history and carries a wide assortment of science, philosophy, current affairs, rare books and more.
The store's name is drawn from one of Edward Abbey's best-known fiction titles, The Monkey Wrench Gang, featuring Seldom Seen Smith, an outfitter whose company name and hideout was Back of Beyond.
In the sale announcement, Nettell reflected on his bookselling career: "October 2021 marks a milestone of sorts in my evolution as a bookseller. While I sold books for the Canyonlands Natural History Association in the early '90s at the Island in the Sky, and worked evenings at Back of Beyond Books in the mid '90s, I became a full on bookseller/owner upon opening Arches Book Company in October 2001. Arches Book Company had a full service coffee bar, a huge magazine section and an emphasis on genre fiction and gift items. Back of Beyond Books became available in 2004, and with additional investors, I soon had a controlling interest in a second bookstore. A year later we went all in and opened ABC & Beyond Used Books in McStiff's Plaza.
"Even though Amazon was rapidly chipping away the market share in books, the three stores thrived until 2008.
"How quickly things changed with the Great Recession, and by 2011 we had downsized to just one storefront, Back of Beyond Books. Ironically, the recession forced me to develop an added revenue stream not dependent on walk-in traffic, and our Rare Book Department was born. I wouldn't be where I am today without the experiences of the last 20 years and the ability to adapt quickly to a changing market."
Nettell added that he was looking forward to operating a new rare book business, Stellar Books and Ephemera.