Wild Rumpus Books, Minneapolis, Minn., has new owners, longtime founding owner and general manager Collette Morgan announced, writing, "After 31 years of running the bookstore, I am retiring in complete confidence that I'm leaving Wild Rumpus in the best of hands!" The new owners are booksellers Timothy Otte, Jessica Fuentes, Beth Wilson, and Anna Hersh.
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| Wild Rumpus owners (from l.) Timothy Otte, Jessica Fuentes, Beth Wilson, and Anna Hersh.
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Wild Rumpus is beloved and well-known particularly because of all the animals who live in it, including at various times cats, rats, doves, chinchillas, ferrets, chickens, tarantulas, cockatiels, fish, pigs, macaws, and more. And there are many visits by horses, sheep, bees, and other creatures. As Morgan told Shelf Awareness in a 2017 profile, "We're a pet store that only sells books."
The animals live in the store 24 hours a day, and are either adopted or rescued. Chickens and cats roam the aisles, and staff are trained in bookselling and animal care. Not surprisingly, the store's books have a children's and YA focus. In 2016, Wild Rumpus won the Pannell children's specialty store award.
Morgan co-founded the store in 1992 after working at Odegard Books for many years. After seeing Odegard close when chain superstores expanded across the country, she wanted Wild Rumpus to have an unusual focus. She found one of the rarest and most wonderful. We wish Collette a happy retirement.