There must have been some questions in 2020 when locals heard that Bridgeside Books in Waterbury, Vermont, had gone on the market. Chief among them: Who was going to buy a bookstore during the COVID-19 pandemic?
A few years earlier, village residents Katya d'Angelo and Chris Triolo might have wondered, too. Instead, they decided to purchase the independent bookstore.
"Honestly, it was a scary time to buy a business, but it was also a great time to buy a business because so many things were changing that it allowed me to make a lot of changes in the business pretty quickly," Katya says. "It's often hard to make changes as a newcomer with a business that is very well known in the community—even though I'd been here already for six years—but everyone just kind of rolled with it."
The business is now entering its sixth year under the wife-and-husband team's ownership, and they recently celebrated the store's Sweet 16.
"This is my third or fourth career in my almost 40 years on this earth," Katya laughs.
A native of Greater Boston, she once dreamed of becoming an architect—until she graduated and decided she didn't actually want to pursue that career. Instead, her journey to self-discovery led her to volunteer on a farm outside Siena, Italy, to explore Europe, to decorate wedding cakes, to land jobs in marketing, and even to start an ice cream tricycle business.
We talked about the challenges and opportunities of buying Bridgeside Books during COVID, how she's built community through events and reading retreats, and how she's navigating the modern bookselling landscape.
What challenges did you face relaunching the bookstore in October 2020, and how did you overcome them?
Well, nobody really knew what was going on in the world. And so keeping up with all the changing guidance, requirements, and people's feelings about it all was definitely a challenge. At times, it felt as if I could do no right. Whatever policy I had in place for our store or for myself personally was the wrong one for somebody.
In general, everyone was quite respectful of whatever we decided to do, which was not the case for many other bookstores and small businesses. I was just trying to plan as best I could for the future, knowing that everything was kind of unstable and hard to plan for.
What extra challenges do you face owning an independent bookstore?
The elephant in the room is online book retailers. And there's a difference between a bookstore and booksellers and the other thing. The indie bookstore industry is a very tight-knit group. Yes, technically, we're competitors, but we don't really feel that way. When someone comes into my store looking for a book and I don't have it on the shelves, I can always order almost any book in existence. But if they need it that afternoon, there's no way I can get it. I would rather call the bookstore in the next town over and send them there than say, "Nope, go online. Sorry."
There's been a lot of pushback against online retailers. And so we've seen an uptick in people wanting to support us and saying specifically why. And then there are companies like Bookshop.org, which is a fantastic story. They aim to be the Rebel Alliance against the Evil Empire. We're a partner with them, so we get a commission for every book sold through our affiliate link. And we've seen a threefold year-over-year increase. Libro.fm, the audiobook company, has also grown leaps and bounds.
I think people are waking up to what it means to support local small businesses and the difference between indie bookstores and platforms that sell books. But there's a lot of education to be made with any retailer.
There's the statistic that every dollar spent at a locally owned small business keeps between 60 and 70 cents circulating in the local economy. When you buy online, it's only 20 to 30 cents. The good thing about COVID was that when things were closing to in-person shopping, restaurants couldn't be open, and people were freaking out, it drove home the importance of having small businesses in a community, especially small towns like mine, what that brings to the environment, and what the town would be like if everything just shuttered.
Bridgeside Books and Vermont Italian Cultural Association will host me for a virtual event on November 13.
Tell us about your events and how they contribute to the community.
The previous owner did a fantastic job of really solidifying the bookstore as a core town business. She often had two events a week, which was great.
During COVID, we had none. And while at the time it was nice to have that pressure off, as people new to the business, not having to worry about that whole side of things, it definitely felt like, well, we're just another store.
But indie bookstores have always been a place of gathering, always been a place of conversation and dialogue, and it's just expected that bookstores will have events. So, when it was appropriate, we slowly started incorporating them back in.
We started with traditional author events, and then branched out into literary-inspired events. Author events are really hit-or-miss. If you can find the right audience for that book on that day or night at that time, it's tricky. The weather impacts it, too.
We also have events for different audiences: kids, adults, and maybe people who aren't total readers. We have Not Your Average Date Night, where people come in pairs and do a scavenger hunt around the store.
One person comes every year. She is a reader, and her significant other is not. And this is something they can do together, even though they're not actually sharing a book; they're in the same space.
Not all of our events are free. We are still a business after all, but we do try to mix it up. By hosting events, not only do we introduce ourselves to new people and bring them into the store, but the revenue from those events also helps us give back.
Bridgeside Books has been a local independent literary hub for 16 years.
You also host retreats. Describe those.
Our manager, Jenna, is an event ideator. And so she and I often come up with something and then mull it over for a little while.
We had this idea a few years ago for reading retreats, and initially, it was going to be an overnight at a local lodging partner. It would be a digital detox—put your phones and computers away, bring a book or two, and just read in nature, by the fire, or wherever. And we are kind of like, "OK, this is lovely. Who's our audience? What's the price point? Is it a staycation? Are we going after locals? Is this long enough to make it worth a day trip?"
We didn't love the iteration, so we sat on it for a minute. Then, two years ago at this point, we hit on the right format: invite an author or two for the weekend, hold two author events, make it a two-night getaway, and let readers bring their books.
We do some bookish activities. They can read, meet the author, and chat. And we have found huge success with that.
We've sold out five of the six, and we are nearly sold out of the other one because people want to meet these authors that they absolutely adore. They've read all of their books, and they have fan books and fan art. And so that's been really fun. It's fun for us, too, to meet different authors. And it's an excuse to read books that we might not otherwise read.
Bridgeside Book also offers games, toys, and craft kits.
The store carries more than books. Share what else you offer.
Books have one of the lowest retail margins in the retail industry. To really make the bookstore viable, we have to sell other items with higher profit margins. That's just business.
My husband is really into tabletop games, and there isn't a game store nearby. So we've brought games in. We also offer game rentals if you're in town for a week or a weekend.
We have a big kids' section. There are stuffed animals and ways to be creative. We've got woodcarving kits, friendship bracelet kits, watercolors and colored pencils, and all sorts of fun stuff. And puzzles and cards are the other two main things.
I look at what's not available in town and would make sense for the store, and I curate everything based on that.
The business community here is small, and we are all very respectful of what each other sells, and we don't want to necessarily be carrying the same thing as the store down the street.
What do you ultimately hope to share through this business and outreach?
I just want people to know how much they can learn from books. Whether you're listening to a book or reading a book, it doesn't matter because you're going to learn something. With nonfiction, you're often learning something about science or doing a deep dive into history, but those things can be applied to our everyday lives. With fiction, there's so much to learn from hearing other people's perspectives and from reading and empathizing with a character.
I want us to be a resource, a place where people can think, "Oh, I don't really know what the best book on North American Birds is—let's talk with the Bridgeside team and see what their recommendation is."
We have resources at our fingertips that help us find higher-quality books, and we can guide you on what you're looking for and what we can provide.
We offer a safe space where you can come and look at whatever book you're interested in. No judgment. We'll order books for you. What you want to read is what you want to read. And that's great.
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