Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem, Pa., hosted a ribbon cutting and grand reopening celebration on Wednesday, September 9 as it continues operations under the direction of nearby Moravian University. WFMZ reported that the college had announced earlier this year that it "would end its management agreement with Barnes & Noble in June and bring in ANC Consulting to come up with a new operational and financial model that would let the school run the store on its own terms."
In his remarks at the reopening festivities, university president Bryon Grigsby said the shop represents a promise to the community that ideas will always have a place to live on Main Street: "In 1745, Bishop (Augustus) Spangenberg asked an innkeeper named Samuel Powell to keep that promise. This morning, 281 years later, we're renewing it."
In 2018, the Moravian Church recognized it could no longer run the store and the university (then still Moravian College) agreed to assume ownership, establishing its student bookstore in the space and bringing in Barnes & Noble Collegiate to handle the day-to-day operations. Grigsby expressed gratitude to B&N, noting that the company took a shop that was losing money and turned it into one that paid its own way.
"The school will now have the flexibility to really reach out to local artists and vendors to showcase their products," said Angelina Carvalhal, founder of ANC Consulting. "There's going to be a lot of community events, working with the community and local artists to bring their product into the store. More flexibility.... This is a great opportunity for the bookstore to find its own identity, to connect with the community in a really authentic way where patrons can actually see themselves within the assortment."
Grigsby added: "The best way to honor 281 years of history is to keep adding new voices to it, not just preserve the old ones under glass. That's the assignment for this next chapter: a shop that serves a Moravian freshman buying their first book and a visitor from Saxony buying a Moravian star to take home under the same roof, on the same Main Street where Samuel Powell started all of this in 1745."