Second Story Hopes for Next Chapter

by John Mutter -- Publishers Weekly, 3/21/2005

Locked in a dispute with its new landlord, Bill Clinton's favorite hometown bookstore, Second Story Book Shop, Chappaqua, N.Y., may lose its space.

"We're in limbo," Joan Ripley, Second Story's owner and a former ABA president, told PW. The difficulties began last December, she said, when the landlord announced that he was doubling the store's rent. Distracted by the holiday season and the terminal illness of a close relative, her initial reaction was to say, "We can't pay double. We can't stay here." Later Ripley calmed down and got additional financing. "The rent is no longer an issue," she emphasized.

In the meantime, however, the landlord listed the space with a real estate agent, who found a law firm to take the spot. The landlord has not definitively told Second Story, which has a month-to-month lease, that it must go. And since the problem became public, support for the store has grown in Chappaqua. In five days, some 750 people signed a petition in favor of Second Story. The Chamber of Commerce doesn't like the potential loss because of the potential loss of retail space. And the town supervisor has met with the landlord to convey the community's concerns. Ripley is considering moving, but at the moment, there is no suitable alternative space available in downtown Chappaqua.

Believe it or not, Ripley is now going on vacation for several weeks, an annual event. "I need it more than I usually do," she said.