Jessica MacKenzie Devin and longtime friend Sue O'Malley have partnered to purchase Brewster Book Store, a 39-year-old independent bookstore in Brewster, Mass., from previous owner David Landon, son of store founder Nancy Landon.
Devin, who left a career in teaching earlier this year and has been working on the sales floor since the beginning of September, has a strong family connection with the store. Nancy Landon was a close family friend of Jean MacKenzie and Jane MacKenzie, her mother and her aunt, who helped Landon open the store and worked there for years. When the store opened, it was children's-only and occupied a single room; now it sells new titles for all ages and owns its building.
 |
|
| Jessica Devin (l.) and manager Val Arroyo, who is celebrating 20 years at the store. | |
"It's such an honor to be able to carry on the legacy of Nancy Landon," said Devin, whose first job was at the bookstore. "We're excited about ways to bring her forward with us."
Devin hopes that all of the current staff members stay on board and reported that it seems likely they will. Going forward she plans to work at the store two days per week during the school year (her partner is a teacher) and full-time during the holidays and summer break.
Asked about longer-term plans for the store, Devin said Brewster Book Store will expand next year into an adjacent office, which will be turned into an events space. She also hopes to build on and expand the store's existing event offerings. Beyond that, she simply wants to make sure Brewster Book Store remains a community fixture.
"I think it would be naive of us to jump in and immediately want to change this and that," she remarked. She and O'Malley see themselves as currently "learning from the experts" who already work at the store. Brewster Book Store has a "phenomenal group of booksellers," she added, and it is "important not to disrupt" the great things they're already doing.