Cheshire Bookshop's New Owner Raring to Go

Linda Rosengarten, a graduate of the Bookseller School presented by Paz & Associates this fall, is the new owner of Cheshire Bookshop in Fort Bragg, California. Previously the executive director of a nonprofit organization, Rosengarten was ready for a new career when her long-time friend Howard Martin was looking to sell the 30-year-old store. She quickly moved to purchase Cheshire, and, like many new booksellers, was somewhat surprised by the learning curve. "It's hard," Rosengarten explained. "I expected to arrive on the scene like a Venus fully formed. Well ... I've got my toe on the shell."

Cheshire Bookshop in Fort Bragg, California, is moving to a new location (above) four doors from the original (below).

Rosengarten will soon be facing more challenges: Cheshire is moving to a new location four doors from the original and will reopen on November 1. Rather than feeling daunted by her ever-lengthening to-do list, Rosengarten is looking forward to the change. "I'm really excited and happy about the move," she said. "I think I can grow the store better in that space. And customers have said they'll help me move."

Although Rosengarten believed that buying an existing store would make her transition to bookselling far easier than starting from scratch, she told BTW that she has found running the 1,300-square-foot space -- ordering inventory, budgeting, using the POS system -- is comparable to building a new business. "Thank God for Donna Paz's school," said Rosengarten, who added, "I wouldn't trade this struggle for anything."

A 23-year resident of the community of Fort Bragg, which she described as "an incredibly beautiful and pristine strip of coastline," Rosengarten has the advantage of knowing the interests and reading habits of its residents.

Fort Bragg is home to a number of booming cottage industries including that of Rosengarten's husband, Ron Hock, who owns Hock Tools, which designs and builds tools for fine woodworking. Cheshire's inventory reflects the needs of these locally owned businesses, and Rosengarten places many special orders.

The region is also "resplendent in resources of interest to people," said Rosengarten, and the bookstore fills that hobbyist and naturalist niche as well. In the damp coastal climate, mushroom gathering is popular and sometimes serves as a seasonal industry. Cheshire stocks a number of mycology titles and will soon host a wine and mushroom tasting event, featuring a signing by Cynthia Nims, author of the cookbook Wild Mushrooms (Westwinds Press).

Along with Booksellers School, ABA won accolades from Rosengarten for its services to booksellers. "If you're just getting into bookselling, ABA is clearly your closest, dearest friend, said Rosengarten. "And Book Sense is the best part of your best friend. I'm in a remote area. I can't keep up on all books fit to print, and appreciate the depth and breadth of what Book Sense offers." Once the store is set up in the new location, Rosengarten is planning to join the Book Sense Gift Card Program.

Since assuming ownership of Cheshire Bookshop, Rosengarten has increased the store's inventory and has worked to make the children's section more inviting. Future plans include more community involvement. Rosengarten is creating a Coast Poets Meeting Place, a space, complete with complementary snacks, for poets to gather. The poets will hold readings, and they are working with Rosengarten to design a youth-oriented poetry program.

Rosengarten was exuberant about planning the evolution of the bookstore and about the freedom to act without consulting members of a board of directors, something with which she often had to contend in the nonprofit world. "I like the autonomy," she said. "It feels like you can tend to a living creation you get to form. And I'm just getting going." --Karen Schechner