Greta Guck has purchased the Willow Bookstore in Perham, Minn., from Megan Wells, the Perham Focus reported.
Guck, who previously worked as a librarian for 11 years, took provisional ownership of the store on May 22. On June 15, she closed on her business loan and officially took over the store. She's made some minor changes already, including some new decor and rearranged bookshelves, and has larger changes planned.
Going forward, she'll focus more on fiction and especially on local and regional titles. Eventually she's going to add used books to the inventory and will create a program for buying customers' used titles in exchange for store credit. She wants to expand the store's event offerings, and in a year's time she plans to change the store's name to Big Pine Books, in honor of Perham's Big Pine Lake.
Guck grew up on Big Pine Lake before attending college at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She lived and worked in Minneapolis for a time and returned to Perham in 2017. She had long dreamed of owning an independent bookstore, and when she learned earlier this year of Wells's intention to sell the store, she jumped at the opportunity.
"It's exciting, it's challenging," Guck told the Focus. "It's been a lot of work, and it will continue to be, but that is something I enjoy. I enjoy a challenge.... I'm very excited to be here on Main Street. I'm a Perham fan. I love Perham."