Katya d'Angelo and Chris Triolo are purchasing Bridgeside Books, an 11-year-old independent bookstore in Waterbury, Vt., Waterbury Roundabout reported. D'Angelo is the owner of The Udder Guys, a summertime ice cream cart that she tows by tricycle and sets up at various spots in downtown Waterbury.
Original owner Hiata Corduan put the store up for sale earlier this summer. Corduan told the Roundabout that she had no desire to close the store and was prepared to wait a year or more to find the right buyer. It was not long before inquiries came streaming in, some of them from buyers as far away as Alaska and Colorado. Said Corduan: "I found somebody local."
Corduan, d'Angelo and Triolo are still working on the terms of the sale and anticipate closing the deal by the end of next month. Corduan will stay for a time to help Triolo and d'Angelo learn the ropes; to that end, d'Angelo is already spending a few hours per week in the shop to see how things are done.
Bridgeside Books was closed for 10 weeks during the early months of the pandemic before reopening this summer with a slimmer inventory and smaller profile. Looking ahead, d'Angelo plans to keep things leaner during the early fall in the hopes that business accelerates during the holidays. D'Angelo and Triolo hope to add a few things like tabletop games and board games and are considering stocking a selection of teas.
"It's easy to be involved here, to know your neighbors," said d'Angelo. "Waterbury is a place full of lovely people."
Corduan said she began thinking about moving on from the store last summer and was thrilled to find buyers who lived around the corner from the bookshop. "It was my dream to open a bookstore and it became above and beyond what I could have ever imagined."