Sam Weller’s Books Announces Move to Trolley Square

After a two year search, Catherine and Tony Weller have signed a lease with Trolley Square and expect to open for business there early in Autumn.

Since March of 2009, with the assistance of Ed Sperry, our realtor, we considered 30-35 properties downtown and in near-downtown areas. As we shopped for property to buy, offers from landlords, including Trolley Square, continued arriving. Though initially resistant to leases, as the search dragged on and we refined our parameters, we decided to consider leasing. Until last month, we pursued a purchase and this lease with equal vigor knowing that each location met most of our goals. In the end, Trolley Square won us over.

In moving to Trolley Square, we will be particularly pleased to join fine local businesses such as Tabula Rasa, Desert Edge Brewery, Cabin Fever and others. We hope that ongoing leasing efforts will recognize the economic benefits and cultural advantages of locally owned businesses.  The bookstore will be at the southern edge of Trolley Square in 10,000 square feet that formerly housed movie theaters. We plan to include a coffee shop or eatery for which arrangements are still in progress. We will host large author events in the atrium adjacent to our space. Free parking will be available all over Trolley Square, but the Sixth South lot will be most convenient to our store. On site there are salvaged architectural materials we will use in our design.We will enjoy adding our history to the historic character of Trolley Square.

We are relieved to finally have a property deal we feel good about. Now we’ll enter the next, and equally intensive phase of our work, design and buildout. We have engaged Jill Jones of ajc architects and Easton River Construction to that end. Until we have designs and a construction schedule, we are not able to determine moving dates but as soon as those are known, we will make further announcements.

In celebration of this long-coming and important decision, we will have a two day sale on used and rare books in our store. On Friday and Saturday June 17th and 18th used and rare books will be 25% off but if you pick 10 used or 10 rare, the discount will be 33%. For $7, you may pick 20 books from our bargain rooms.

Though we will leave our Main Street home of 50 years with a certain sadness, we are excited to embrace the possibilities of designing a new millennial bookstore. We have considered our bookselling heritage, the evolving book industry and the effects of computers and digitization in conceiving of our future bookstore. From design to inventory, from staff to events we have put our experience to work to plan a bookstore that will be a friendly and interesting place to visit and a source for the books discerning readers expect Weller’s to supply. But that’s all we can say for now.  We have work to do.