Lakeville Books and Stationery has opened a second location, in Great Barrington, Mass., the Berkshire Eagle reported.
The general-interest bookstore, at 63 State Rd., has an emphasis on illustrated books in categories including gardening, architecture, design, automobiles, photography, and cooking. It occupies the building that previously housed the Bookloft, which closed in July after more than 50 years in operation.
Store owners Darryl and Anne Peck opened the original Lakeville Books and Stationery in Lakeville, Conn., just this past April; they moved so quickly to open a second store because they knew the Bookloft's closure would leave a void in the Great Barrington community. The new store is about 20 miles from Lakeville.
Darryl Peck told the Berkshire Eagle that his first thought upon hearing of the Bookloft's closure was, "Oh please don't tell me this right now, we just spent a year getting this store going," but his second thought was, "Well, Great Barrington cannot be without a bookstore." He and his wife knew "that we were going to have to do something."
They initially considered options for saving the bookstore but realized that doing so would have been a very long and complicated process. The Pecks decided instead to open a new bookstore in the same space.
Peck said he understood that the Bookloft was struggling for a few years, but he wanted "everyone to know that this is not the Bookloft, it's Lakeville Books, and I hope people give us a chance to prove to them that it can be done properly."
Eric and Evelyn Wilska, the founders and original owners of the Bookloft, owned the store for 42 years before selling it to Pamela Pescosolido in 2016. In 2020 Pescosolido moved the store to 63 State Rd., and in 2022 she sold the business to Giovanni Boivin. Ultimately, Boivin closed the store after significant financial difficulties.
Prior to opening Lakeville Books, the Pecks owned Righton Books in St. Simons, Ga., which they opened in 2019. They opened the first Lakeville Books this spring and sold Righton Books to Jim and Burch Barger in late August.