Patti McCall, the owner of Queen Anne Books, one of my favorite Seattle independent bookstores, has just announced that she is planning to sell the store:
Almost 14 years ago, Cindy Mitchell and I met with Randy and Alice to discuss the possibility of buying Queen Anne Books, sealing the deal July 31, 1998. It has been an amazing ride: Borders Books and Barnes & Noble were the ‘big, bad, box stores’; Amazon was a new and far-reaching idea just beginning to take off; Tower Books was our nearest competitor; and there was no such thing as an e-book. After a couple hundred book club meetings, four amazing Harry Potter parties, countless author events and 14 Holiday Magics, I have decided it is time to turn over Queen Anne Books to a new owner — someone who will bring fresh energy and ideas to a business undergoing a radical and exciting transformation.
During the five years Lisa and I lived on Queen Anne Hill, Queen Anne Books was our local indie, and in addition to just being a wonderful bookstore, they were incredibly supportive of my career, handselling literally hundreds of copies of Set This House in Order and Bad Monkeys. Unfortunately, even with their help, I haven’t quite reached the level of success where I can afford to buy the store myself, but hopefully somewhere out there is a well-heeled investor—Bill? Paul? Nathan?—looking for a new opportunity. It’s a great business in a great neighborhood.