Owner of Arkansas’s That Bookstore In Blytheville and former ABA board member Mary Gay Shipley, 67, said in an e-mail that she is ready to sell the store after 36 years. “It is now time for change…. It is my sincere hope that someone or some group will come forward and continue TBIB in some fashion. I am not going anywhere and would be happy to help a new owner transform TBIB into their own vision.” Shipley adds, “I believe the next few years will be exciting for independent booksellers who embrace the multiple reading formats and who are located in areas with a strong “buy local” economy. It would be a fun challenge, if only I were a decade younger. And so, I am ready to turn loose of That Bookstore in Blytheville and spend more time with my family.”
Shipley tells the Arkansas Times she will close the store if a buyer does not come forward but promises the store “will be a bargain, as I do not need to fund my IRA.”