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| Bart Carithers at Next Page Books | |
Congratulations to Next Page Books in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary during the month of December. In a December 3 Facebook post, owner Bart Carithers noted: "I'm not sure how to adequately express how grateful I am to Mayor Tiffany O'Donnell, Councilwoman Ann Poe, and the city council for proclaiming December 'Next Page Books of Cedar Rapids Month' in recognition of our decade of book selling in the New Bohemia neighborhood. I heard enough 'whereas' and 'therefore' statements to last a lifetime. Thank you, Cedar Rapids. I couldn't ask for a better place to call home."
In an earlier post, Carithers wrote that in his wildest dreams, he "never imagined that the store would stay afloat for so many years, much less continue to grow despite my lack of business experience. It has taken a lot of time, effort, passion, and persistence but here we are 10 years later. I don't know what the future holds, but this has been the ride of my life!...
"Whatever I have accomplished here at Next Page Books I attribute to my mom. She passed 30 years ago this year and 20 years before I took ownership of the shop. If she were alive today, I think she'd be mighty proud of me for what I've made of the store and for carrying on the 'family tradition' of working with books."
Last Saturday, he posted: "Pop the corks, our biggest weekend of the year has finally arrived! Join us today for our 10th Anniversary Party as we celebrate navigating the ups and downs, in and outs, and flat out fun of owning a small independent bookstore."
He later added: "By day’s end, we nearly set an all-time sales record for a single day. I've never experienced anything like it. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for making this such a special day. I owe everyone who stopped by the shop a huge debt of gratitude. I'm overwhelmed."