Vero Beach Book Center, Vero Beach, Fla., is planning to consolidate its inventory into the soon-to-be renovated children's store, reducing the location's footprint from 20,000 square feet to 12,500, VeroNews.com reported.
"It's always been too big, especially for a small town," said owner Chad Leonard, whose parents founded the bookstore in 1975. "Twelve thousand five hundred is still a very big book store.... We've got to change with the times. Big book stores aren't going to exist as much anymore. The small mammals survive while the big dinosaurs die off." The move is expected to be completed in early summer and he anticipates only having to close for a "couple of days, hopefully."
The Leonard family and bookshop staff "consulted with experts and debated amongst themselves whether to keep the main book store, with its high-visibility frontage on Indian River Boulevard, or move to the children's center around the corner on Miracle Mile," VeroNews.com noted.
"The children's store is where we want to be," said Leonard, adding: "We're going to have a great store. We're pretty psyched about it."
