Northshire sold to Frenches of Manchester Vt.

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Northshire Bookstores, with locations on Broadway in Saratoga Springs and on Main Street in Manchester Center, Vt., has been sold, the company told patrons in an email.

The bookstore, owned by Chris Morrow and founded by his parents, has been sold to Clark and Lu French of Manchester. In a note sent to patrons, the Frenches say they have partners, Jon and Tom West.

“It’s absolutely bittersweet,” Chris Morrow said during a telephone interview today. He had been the owner for the past 23 years. His parents opened the store in Manchester Center in 1976. “We were blessed to find Clark and Lu to take over, especially during covid.”

Digby Baker-Proazinski at the Vermont store said the changeover is underway today.

In the email, Morrow said the sale predates the pandemic, adding during the interview that COVID made it more difficult. 

The sales figures and other data were too aberrant to be helpful during a sale. From the buyer’s point-of-view, it is hard to make a good prediction about the future when the world’s turned upside down, he said. He was looking, he wrote in the email, for a buyer "who appreciated The Book, the art of bookselling and our amazing staff and who also had the background, energy, vision and resources to carry the bookstores into future decades."

He said he was happy with the decision. 

“We wouldn't have sold to anyone else. Part of the whole process was to try and find someone who was compatible with us,” Morrow said during the interview.

He said the stores have stayed open when larger chains have struggled--Borders went bankrupt and Barnes & Noble lost market share--because they are cultural centers where authors come to read and discuss their work and where the community gathers. Creating physical spaces that people want to be in, not just a warehouse full of books, is what keeps the store open, Morrow said.

“Being small, not having a big chain, allows us to be very hands-on, quality focused,” he said.

In the email announcement that featured a letter from Morrow and his parents, the Frenches wrote: “As this beloved family-owned business approaches its 45th Anniversary, we are thrilled and honored to become its next stewards. Along with our ownership team members Jon & Tom West, we are committed to continuing the legacy and high standards the Morrows have cultivated over their long tenure.”