Bazoo Books, formerly Reader's World, hosted an open house last weekend in the State Fair Shopping Center at 1400 S. Limit, Suite 7, Sedalia, Mo. KSIS reported that new owner Carrie Lysell "took over the 1,000-square-foot business on January 1. (The old location in the shopping center was 4,700 square feet.) This is the third business she has owned, the first being a heating & cooling company, and then State Beauty Supply here in Sedalia."
"I came to Sedalia to manage State Beauty Supply. My brother owned it, and then after six years, I bought it. But then I sold it in 2022," Lysell recalled. "I was happily retired, until I walked into the bookstore (as a customer).... When the bookstore was for sale the first time, I was so tempted when Matt (Petree) bought it. But I still had State Beauty, and there was no way that was going to happen."
When she learned in October that Reader's World was struggling, Lysell said she went home and made a long list regarding the bookstore's potential "because I love books.... my biggest weaknesses are books and plants."
She ultimately made suggestions for initial renovations to the property, and asked Petree to remain as manager with her as the business owner. "Matt needed to stay, because I don't want a job. I'm going to do it as long as it's fun. Once the weather gets nice, I'm in the garden," she said.
Lysell added that "one of the first things we did here was build the inventory and get ahead of the new releases, because this new release shelf had three books in it when I first came in. And you can't be in business if you don't have what people want. And February was a big month for them. So finally, we're getting ahead of the curve.... This is a fun place. I love it.... I'm committed to this being successful and it being a destination and a huge part of the community."