New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘WE ARE REALLY IN NO RUSH’
Owners of Breakwater Books await ‘the right buyer’
GUILFORD — For only the fourth time in 50 years Breakwater Books, the town’s only independent bookstore, is for sale.
“We are not closing the bookstore,” said co-owner Paul Listro. “Rather, we are finding a new buyer for it.”
“We’ll hold onto it until that happens,” he said. “We are really in no rush. If this takes months or even another year, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll not close it.”
The store is a centerpiece in downtown Guilford.
Large plate glass windows showcase books of all sizes, shapes and colors and offer a view of the action in center of town and the green.
Inside the 1,500-squarefoot shop, tables and shelves hold an array of tomes. Chairs are scattered around, inviting visitors to sit and enjoy the quiet atmosphere.
A cozy nook in the children’s section, complete with two bright blue papasan chairs, is a perfect spot for children to stop and enjoy a book.
“There’s something intimate and neighborly and friendly and resourceful about that bookstore and I love it,” said the Rev. Mary Anne Osborn, a priest at Guilford’s Christ Episcopal Church, across the green from the bookstore.
Listro and his husband, Richard Parent, purchased the store in 2019 from Liza Fixx. Previously, the store was owned by Maureen Corcoran. The original owners, Marion Harold and Marion Young, opened the store in 1972.
“Some life changes have come up that require more of our attention than we could allow while still giving the time that the store requires,” said Listro.
The couple will keep busy after the sale. They both have other professions; Parent is a media attorney and Listro is a media accountant.
The decision was not an easy one.
“We’re sad … we love the store. There have been tears in these discussions,” said Listro.
Listro recalls going to
the bookstore while growing up in East Haven.
“I still pinch myself, often, that it’s now ours,” he said. “It means a lot to us and we’re going to have a very thoughtful and deliberate search to put the right people in there.”
The couple will remain at the helm until they have “the right buyer, but also the right buyer who can succeed and improve,” Listro said.
The couple has residences in both Branford and New York City. They are selling the store on their own and although they declined to share the sale price, but they did give some insight into the financial end of the sale.
“A reason we waited (to sell the store) until the end of the year was just to get one more solid calendar year behind us to be able to show a good average performance for prospective buyers over those three years of our sales and profit,” Listro said.
There are three more years on the current lease, which will transfer to the new buyer.
Since purchasing the store, Listro said he and Parent has made it more profitable. “In spite of COVID we’ve had three solid years,” he said.
Their marketing strategy was to “just buy more books and to be very thoughtful about what we
thought the community would like, what we like and what would bring people outside the community to the store and that worked,” Listro said.
Osborn has been a loyal Breakwater Books’ customer since she moved to town 12 years ago.
She said she appreciates the personal service at Breakwater Books.
“I particularly love that they will order a wide variety of books, particularly in my instance, because I am an Episcopal priest, I tend to order sometimes some obscure kinds of
theology books by nontraditional printers and presses,” she said.
“They will do their best to find those books,” she said.
This avid reader also appreciates the diversity of the books offered.
“They’ve added a LGBT section, which is really good,” she said.
The owners posted the sale in a couple of trade publications at the beginning of the month and were not quite ready to make a public announcement.
A member of the Facebook
group Simply Guilford, CT picked it up and posted it on Saturday, Feb. 4, “which opened the floodgates,” Listro said.
This social media announcement turned out to be fortuitous.
“We’ve gotten 12 interested parties since then,” Listro said. “There’s a lot of interest, which is great.”
“Most of them live in Guilford,” he said. “We have an interested party from Torrance, California, a couple who are moving back to Connecticut. They own a bookstore, have
owned a bookstore.”
There was also a myriad of Facebook comments from townspeople worried about the future of the beloved bookstore.
Osborn talked about the importance of the store in the center of town.
“I love that I run into people from town there and we can exchange ideas about ‘What book have you read?’ ‘What do you suggest,’” she said.
“It’s such a sensual pleasure to go in and see all the books, be able to touch them, turn the pages, talk to the people there, ask them what they recommend,” she said.
Listro and Parent appreciate the community support.
“The outpouring of love from this town has meant everything to us,” Listro said in a quavering voice.
“It’s been quite an experience,” he said. “We worked and work in a very tough industry, the media industry, and to spend three years having strangers — and then soon friends and neighbors –— constantly coming to the door telling us how grateful they are, it’s almost overwhelming.”
“That meant a lot,” he said. “It’s made it hard to make this decision because we didn’t want to let anyone down. Everyone liked us and it’s hard to walk away from that, but life has changed.”
They also foresee having time to relax.
“We will be doing a lot more reading,” Listro said.
“I’ll probably get more reading done after this than I have during the three years,” he said. “But that’s OK, because I know where to go to buy my books because we’re going to find a great owner and they’re going to see us often.”