Written Words has moved across town and shrunk, but according to bookstore owner Dorothy Sim-Broder, there’s something to be said about its new dimensions.
“People say it looks more like a cozy bookstore,” she said.
The owner decided to leave her old location in White Hills when her lease expired.
The Shelton bookstore moved out of its original location at the White Hills Shopping Center on Feb. 1 and reopened earlier this month at its new location at 482 River Road, about 5.5 miles south down Route 110.
Sim-Broder had just begun to put the books in orderly display on the shelves, but said it was a great relief to be reopened at last.
The move was a hassle, she said, “Just like any other move.”
She had to wait several extra days for her telephone, gas heat and Internet service to get turned on.
Without Internet, her point-of-sale system, which records customers’ purchases, didn’t work.
And just when she thought all the delays were about to end, along came the Blizzard of 2013.
She was snowed in for several days, like everyone else.
But unlike some folks who loathe change, Sim-Broder said she thrives on it.
She feels invigorated to be jarred out of her comfort zone. “You have a new breath of life,” she said.
Also welcome and satisfying was the help from a troop of friends and volunteers who helped her and her husband, David, move the store’s bookshelves and many boxes of books.
“They all came through and it was incredible,” she said.
Finally, it all came together, and Written Words reopened on Feb. 13.
Although losing nearly two full weeks of sales wasn’t good, Sim-Broder said she is hopeful the new location will make business better than ever.
Some of her faithful customers from White Hills, like Pastor Ken Smith of the First Baptist Church, have come by to make a purchase. She received at least one referral from another bookstore.
Dan Lehmann of Monroe stopped by to purchase a Valentine’s Day gift for his girlfriend.
Written Words opened at the White Hills Shopping Center in June 2007. Since then it has been the only bookstore in Shelton.
The old location was spacious, at least three times the space of the new store, so Sim-Broder included a comfortable corner with chairs for customers to read, socialize and attend author visits and book discussion groups.
The community aspect of the bookstore will continue at the new store, and Sim-Broder said she and Hannah Perry, owner of the Giggling Pig, a children’s arts and craft studio in the same shopping center, plan to team up for joint events.
Many of the Giggling Pig’s activities revolve around arts projects connected to a book.
“We can promote reading and art together,” she said.
The new address is 482 River Road, Shelton, CT 06484. The phone number remains the same: 203 – 944-0400.