Pete Mulvihill, who has been a staff member and then co-owner of Green Apple Books, San Francisco, Calif., for more than 30 years, is selling his half of the business to co-owner Kevin Ryan at the end of the year. Then he is "moving on to the next chapter," as he wrote in an announcement.
|
|
| Pete Mulvihill | |
Last September, Mulvihill joined the Watermark Agency as a literary agent, a role he will continue. ("I'll still be selling books--just earlier in the chain between author and reader.") He added, "After decades of the responsibility and privilege of running Green Apple, I'm stepping into this next phase with gratitude and a sense of possibility. I'm open to gigs, boards, consulting, mentoring, and junkets!"
Mulvihill started at Green Apple in 1993 as a temp. Eventually he and Kevin Ryan and Kevin Hunsanger bought the store from founder Rich Savoy over a 10-year period ending in 2008. Mulvihill and Ryan bought out Hunsanger in 2018.
Mulvihill is a former board member of the American Booksellers Association and the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (now part of CALIBA) and, with his wife, Samantha Schoech, helped found Independent Bookstore Day.
Mulvihill thanked many people: "With guidance from founder Rich Savoy, in partnership with Kevin Hunsanger and Kevin Ryan, and with the help of hundreds of managers and booksellers, I've helped guide Green Apple through more than three decades of challenges and successes." He especially thanked Kevin Ryan, saying, "We've been through everything life brings--becoming fathers, hiring, box-moving parties, mistakes, bowling, swimming, rowing, parenting, power outages, rodent patrol, publisher dinners, arguing, apologizing, celebrating, crying, and losing loved ones. There's no one I trust more to guide Green Apple and our related stores forward."
He noted the growth and evolution of Green Apple. "Throughout this century and before, we've managed to adapt, changing our product mix and physical space to keep pace with the market. We added Books on the Park in 2014, took over Browser Books in 2019, ground through COVID, closed the music and fiction annex in 2021, popped up downtown in 2023, and now sell books to an even bigger audience at SFO."
Green Apple has also benefited, he continued, "from the support of countless editors, sales reps, neighboring businesses, SF's Legacy Business program, fair landlords, a solid bookkeeper, an excellent attorney, generous authors and artists, and fellow booksellers. Our indie bookstore peers deserve special thanks--in what other business do 'competitors' so generously share knowledge, enthusiasm, and tips on cutting your Cost of Goods Sold?"
We wish Pete well and we're happy to note that he's is keeping his Green Apple e-mail through 2030--"so stay in touch." He's also reachable at Watermark.