Caelin Bragg
Lantern Reporter
Local used bookstore, The Next Chapter Books and Novelties, reaches its final chapter and is closing its doors after a year of service on Saturday, Aug. 24.
Errin Moore took over the bookstore from the previous owner, Sandra Emlet, and renamed it from The Book Grinder to The Next Chapter in June of 2018. The faces of the bookstore, cats Bobbles and Oreo, will remain until the closing date and already have a home lined up for them when the bookstore closes.
“Thank you, El Dorado, for supporting us and our little business venture here, [and] for having faith in us after Sandra left,” Moore said. “Although we are closing the shop, we are not gone, and so you’ll still see us around town.”
Moore was debating on whether to close the bookstore and focus her time on her and her husband’s appliance repair business and after being notified by her landlord that their building would be sold, Moore decided to focus full time on the appliance repair business.
“We have two businesses,” Moore said. “We are also Able & Ready Appliance Repair, and we find ourselves in a place where both businesses are doing great, which is a great thing, but we’re only two people to run those two businesses, and so we’ve been struggling with time and trying to keep up with things for a couple of months now, and kind of avoiding the difficult decision that we knew might be looming.”
The Next Chapter had hosted many different local events from their inception for the community, such as book club meetings, many author readings and signings and various classes such as how to make soap or how to crochet, which is a service Moore is regretful about losing. They had celebrated their one-year anniversary from June 3 to June 8 earlier this year.
“It is unfortunate that The Next Chapter will close its doors after conducting business in El Dorado for several years,” a statement from the City of El Dorado said. “When people shop local, they support local jobs, and the income generated by a local business is often circulated around the community several times over as such businesses often support other local enterprises. Citizens of El Dorado should always consider shopping local before exploring other options for goods and services.”
Moore is hosting a clearance sale for the bookstore’s remaining time open, with all books 50 percent off, or any bag of books for $10, as well as the selling off the majority of furniture and other items in the store. Moore suggests that customers interested in selling used books support Bookaholic in east Wichita, who she says are prepared to service former Next Chapter customers.
