Just Books Planning Grand Re-Opening

by Kevin Howell -- Publishers Weekly, 8/28/2008 10:54:00 AM

Just Books, the independent bookstore in Old Greenwich, Conn., is holding a grand re-opening and open house on Saturday, September 6 to celebrate its new ownership and show off the remodeling that has taken place since it closed in early July. 

In late May, Marion Holmes became the new owner of the bookstore that has undergone location and name changes since 1949. The original, 800-sq.-ft. bookstore was owned and operated by Warren Cassell in Greenwich. He sold the store to Jenny Lawton in January 2002 and six months later she opened an annex location, called Just Books Too, five miles away in Old Greenwich. In 2005, Lawton closed the original location and consolidated the two stores into the newer location. Under Holmes’ new ownership,  the bookstore is dropping the “Too” and reverts back to Just Books.

“Marion wanted to give the bookstore a new fresh look,” said long-time manager Steve Smith. Besides new paint and carpeting, the store has expanded its young adult section by knocking down a wall to create a larger area. “We’re going to carry more children’s books and with the extra space we’re making this a very comfortable area for kids to be in while they parents browse.”

“We’ve also added more bookcases at the front of the store,” said Smith. “And previously we had stand-alone book cases that built a wall for two aisles running down the store. We’ve turned those at a 90 degree angle so they face each so instead of creating a wall, it creates a much more open space.”

Just Books’ grand re-opening will feature local authors and will run from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. “We are very excited to re-open Just Books and what better way to celebrate a local bookstore than with a local author event,” said Holmes.
 
Lawton retained ownership of the Arcadia Coffee Company, which is located next to the bookstore and often served as the space for book events. The coffee shop has also been closed for renovations, but will reopen with the bookstore on Sept. 6.