MANSFIELD – Main Street Books and neighboring business Old Soul Vintage Attire and Records is closing at the end of the month downtown at 104 N. Main St. and 106 N. Main St., respectively.
The bookstore manager, llalan fowler, also known as “the bookstore lady,” emailed the authors on Tuesday to share the sad news. main street books also posted a farewell notice on facebook on Tuesday.
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next to the bookstore, vintage clothing store & registrations are closing sept. 25, according to their website.
john fernyak of engwiller properties, which manages more than 75 units within the carousel district and downtown mansfield, said the bookstore has been a wonderful store. “But our volume got to the point where we can’t keep it open,” he said Tuesday.
fernyak said he just leased the property next to the city grille on east fourth street from the owner of a store that sells records and other items. the store will open Oct. 1 and the operator is related to the owners of lehman’s in kidron, who already have a store in wooster and wanted a store in the carousel district.
fowler’s said in its letter to authors on tuesday: “my dear authors, i am writing to you today to share some sad news about high street books. we will be closing at the end of the month. owner john fernyak has decided to close the doors permanently,” Fowler said.
“Just wanted to let you know because each of you played an important role in making the bookstore the awesome splash of culture here that it was. Author events were pretty much my favorite part of being The Bookstore Lady, and not just because of the mug of wine,” she said.
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“thank you all for visiting the bookstore and sharing your time and talents with my dedicated group of book lovers. yours is important work and I look forward to continuing to support writers and books in whatever comes next for me . much love, they call .”
in a main street books post on facebook on tuesday, fowler said the last day would be september. 26.
“As a manager for over nine years, I want to thank everyone who has supported the bookstore. It’s not easy for independent bookstores to survive anywhere, but it’s especially challenging in small towns like mansfield. I struggled day in and day out and to keep the bookstore open, but in the end it was a losing battle,” he said.
“However, I should clarify that this does not mean that I think the bookstore was unsuccessful. I don’t think success in this case has anything to do with money. I think it has to do with the number of lives that bookstore has touched and enriched and our contribution to making mansfield a better, more complex and interesting place to live,” fowler said in his post.
“thanks to all of you who made me ‘the bookstore lady.’ come to talk, talk about books and write with you, hang new art, do crafts, play with your kids and even find the perfect gifts for your loved ones definitely the most rewarding job i have ever had so much so that it became my personality.
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“and honestly, I’m concerned about the cultural hole this will leave in our city. I don’t know how to fix it, except I hope everyone will keep reading and meeting to discuss books and keep writing and meeting to discuss that writing. Please use our wonderful library .use the online sources that endorse anyone other than jeff bezos,” he said.
“If you would like to continue to support independent bookstores, I encourage you to order your books through bookshop.org, an organization that supports hundreds of independents across the country. Part of every purchase made through them is earmarks for independent bookstores you can also get alternative audiobooks from amazon there the links will take you to book.fm another independent book site powell’s books out of portland is a great source for used books online if you can’t find your new book anywhere,” he said in his post.
“Keep fighting the good fight and I promise I will too. Come visit me before the 26th, because I will miss you all so much,” he said in his post.
fowler began drawing people downtown shortly after becoming manager of main street books in 2011.
“By that time, (relax, it’s just coffee) had opened up, and we both started creating events to bring people in,” Fowler said. “relaxing was having music and I was reading, like open mics with no mic,” reported the daily news in 2015.
“people started moving into the area and people started coming downtown.”
In 2011, the downtown arts center was just getting started. Now, downtown Mansfield is known as a local arts destination.
“I feel like we’re reaching critical mass now,” Fowler told the daily news in a previous article. “We’re attracting people to come and hang out at the destinations.”
fowler said downtown mansfield is a place for all kinds of artists.
“One of our biggest benefits is that we have a wide variety of different gear here,” he previously said. “It’s not just a music scene or a visual arts scene; there’s a bookstore for writers, and there’s a place for everyone.”
Main Street Books offers three shelves of Ohio-related books, according to Fowler. She said she has an entire bookshelf dedicated to self-published Ohio authors, which includes books from local authors.
“Most of the authors are people who still live in this area,” fowler said previously. “I see this as a place where friends and family (of authors) can come to buy their work. It’s also a buy local thing. People don’t have to buy it online. They can come to my store.”
fowler is a member of the richland county development group arts sector. she said she hosts meetups with kathy goodwin of element of art, and they try to host events around the county with members of the arts community.
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has hosted monthly poetry readings at the store, drawing poets from across the state, and featured visual artists who displayed works on the walls above.
Limited hours now at main street books are noon to 4 p.m. m., from Wednesday to Saturday.
fowler could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.
lee tasseff, president of destination mansfield, also located in the carousel district, said, “we love working with llalan. we will miss her and the bookstore.”
suzy saprano, owner of city news, also on north main street, said she will miss llalan and her bookstore.
“I think it’s devastating, and I understand that,” he said.
saprano said he’s going to miss his neighbor.
“She’s been a great asset to downtown,” Saprano said.
lwhitmir@gannett.com
419-521-7223
twitter: @lwhitmir
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lwhitmir@gannett.com
419-521-7223
twitter: @lwhitmir
See Also: The Cat in the Hat Book Read Aloud – The Best Children&039s Books Read Aloud