Former Waldenbooks gets new life as independent bookstore

WASILLA — When the Cottonwood Creek Mall existed, and before there was Amazon.com, Waldenbooks was the only place Mat-Su Valley residents could purchase new reading materials or order books without driving to Anchorage.

“Customers were very upset when they heard the store was closing,” said former store manager Maria Clark. “Some were in tears.”

When the Cottonwood Creek Mall was torn down in the summer of 2007, the bookstore moved to the Carrs Mall in Wasilla where it continued to serve customers until its Sept. 17 when it closed its doors after its parent company Borders Group was liquidated in bankruptcy.

“It’s a sad thing to let a bookstore go,” Clark said. “A lot of people are out of a place to get books.”

Although Waldenbooks parent company failed, locally, the business was profitable, the former manager said.

“This was a thriving business when it was Waldens,” Clark said.

Coming in November, she and the former store staff will reopen the store under a new name — Buy the Book. The store will have a new look on the inside, but the same familiar faces will be there to welcome back customers. Staff members are Linda Maurer, Ahriel Porter, Jeremy Veilleux and Carol Ayers.

“Everybody’s coming back to help,” Clark said.

It will take some time for the new store to amass the 700,000 volumes Waldens offered, she said. But the new store will offer other amenities Clark said she thinks customers will enjoy.

The front of the store in the Carrs Mall will be set up with a seating area where people can relax, read or share a conversation. Behind that will be shelves of book displays and a service counter where customers can order volumes not in stock, Clark said.

“This is doable. With some community support I think it is very doable,” she said.

Helping the fledgling business fly is a $25,000 donation from one customer. Others may chip in at a business account Clark is setting up at Alaska USA.

“If you want to see a bookstore here, help me do it,” she said. “We have the experience. Together, we can do this.”

Now that the store is independently owned, Clark said it will offer opportunities she couldn’t when she had corporate rules to follow.

Over the years, when local authors asked about selling their books at the store, Clark said she had to say no because the company prohibited the practice.

Now that the bookstore is in independent hands, Clark said she invites local authors to stop by and add their work to the inventory.

Buy the Book also plans to offer community opportunities such as book swaps, book signings and book clubs.

“I really just want people to know we are still here,” Clark said.

Contact Heather A. Resz at heather.resz@frontiersman.com or 352-2268.