Allen Mittelman, co-founder and longtime co-owner of the Library Ltd., Clayton, Mo., died on April 15. He was 85.
Mittelman and his wife, Terry, met when they both worked at the main Abraham & Straus department store Brooklyn, N.Y. He worked in cosmetics, then managed the book department. She worked in handbags and hosiery. They moved to St. Louis, Mo., where Terry had grown up, and in 1970, they founded the Library Ltd. (a bookstore, despite its name). Slowly but steadily they built it into one of the largest independents in the country. When the Mittelmans sold the store to Borders in 1997, it had 50,000 square feet of space and annual sales of $10 million. (Borders operated the store under the Library Ltd. name for several years but eventually renamed it Borders and closed it in 2001, opening a more traditional Borders in a nearby location.)
Mary Catherine McCarthy, executive director, retail product management, at Cokesbury, was v-p and general manager at the Library Ltd. during the last five years of the Mittelmans' ownership, when the store doubled in size. She offered a loving tribute of Allen Mittelman: "Every story you ever heard about him was most likely true. He would throw reps out of his office if they were more than 10 minutes late (and you couldn't come back until you came with your boss). He would yell at kids who asked for CliffsNotes and tell them to read the book. He would chase down anyone who parked in the bookstore lot and didn't come in the store. He did not know the meaning of forgive and forget. However, with Terry he created bookstores in St. Louis, one more beautiful than the next, ending with a magnificent 50,000 square foot store that had a 14-foot castle (with a moat with fish) that surrounded the kids area. The cookbook room looked like a French bistro. The travel room was modeled after a train station with a gigantic clock. And there was a full-service café. Allen was fiercely loyal, adored Terry, loved Frank Sinatra and was focused on every detail of the store (no detail was too small). Terry and Allen beat the chains at their own game and then sold the business to Borders for an ungodly sum of money. The book business is full of characters, but Allen was one of a kind."