Old Sperryville Bookshop to close after liquidation sale
For book lovers in Rappahannock County, there’s bad news and good news. The bad news is that the county’s only full-service new and used bookstore is soon to close permanently. The good news is that the store’s stock will be liquidated at bargain prices.
Nancy Ostinato, owner and operator of the bookshop in the old Episcopal Church on Main Street in Sperryville, told The Rappahannock Voice that the property is under contract to be sold to undisclosed buyers. Their plans for the building are indefinite, she said, but “it is not going to be a book store any more.”
Ostinato, who lives in Fairfax County, and her husband Greg have operated the bookstore for the past three years as a weekend-only venture. The couple bought the property and business in 2003 from Jim and Joan Gannon, who founded the bookstore in 1998. It is housed in the 104-year-old structure originally built as the Emmanuel Episcopal church, which in the 1950s was merged into Trinity Episcopal church in Washington. The building stood vacant for years before being sold as a gift-and-antique shop, which preceded its use as a book store.
A liquidation sale of all the store’s new and used books, gift items, art, holiday wrap and cards and other merchandise will begin the day after Thanksgiving, on Friday, Nov. 24, Ostinato said. All books and merchandise will be marked down 30%. Fixtures and furnishings also will be for sale on a negotiated basis, she added.
The sale will continue through December, with weekend hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Weekday hours may be added later, the owner said. The sale of the property is expected to close in January. To contact the book store, call (540) 987-8444.
-- James P. Gannon
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