Books & Company will be closing its doors on Jan. 15, 2025, after 30 years in business.
The dog and kid-friendly bookstore, located at 1235 Whitney Ave., sells used books, coffee and items made by local artists.
Avid reader and owner Linda Mooser has put her heart and soul into Books & Company but felt it was time to close this chapter of her life.
“As I’ve gotten older and have had more health challenges, I have just continued to try and figure out how to juggle it all and do it all,” Mooser said. “There comes a time when you can’t. You have to recognize your own limitations and I’m recognizing mine.”
At six years old, Mooser got her first library card – calling it her “prized possession.” While attending graduate school at Stanford University, she noticed fabulous bookstores in the Bay Area. However, when she moved to New Haven, she realized the bookstores on the East Coast weren’t the best.
She opened up the bookstore in the Spring Glen neighborhood of Hamden in 1995. Shortly after, in 2000, she moved to its current location after the building was being sold and wanted a bigger space.
Being an independent bookstore can be difficult as you compete with retail bookstores like Barnes & Noble and online storefronts like Amazon.
Mooser has found an engaging path by offering a trade credit program, when you bring a well-conditioned book, you’ll get credit for half of what the book is sold for. That money can then be used to purchase other books.
The bookstore has plenty to offer – including Legal Grounds, a coffee shop owned by former attorney Teresa Fields, handmade jewelry by employee Fran Paulman and greeting cards, kids’ toys and photos from local Hamden artists.
“It’s just a place that we can come in and just feel alive, enjoy the company and the atmosphere,” said Pat Wales, a three-year volunteer and 51-year Hamden resident. “It’s really wonderful.”
Books & Company has hosted all types of celebrations – including its annual Christmas presentation of Dylan Thomas’ ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales,’ weddings and a funeral memorial for itsfirst customer.
When Mooser announced the closing on the store’s Facebook account in September, customers filled the comments with sadness over the news. However, she then posted a follow-up message, letting her customers know long-time employee Tamara Cypress would be taking over the store and will be finding a new location.
“[Tamara is] looking for a new location, and that means courage,” Wales said. “Lots of us feel more hopeful at this point. We were all very discouraged when we heard the news.”
Lauren Fletcher, a second-year graduate physical therapy at Quinnipiac University and employee at Books & Company, says she “fell in love with it immediately” once stepping into the store over a year ago.
“It’s almost like stepping into a different generation, a different century because you don’t find that safety and that love anywhere anymore., But we find it here, and I’m [going to] miss that a lot,” Fletcher said.
She hopes to move with Cypress to the new location.
For Mooser’s final days with the store, she plans to spend the time with the community — from the old to new generation.
“I will definitely miss so much about it. I will miss picking out the [greeting] cards,” Mooser said. “I will miss seeing some of the fun books come in. I will miss the people that I share day to day stories with … that kind of thing. I mean, it’s just extended family and community, so that’s important to me.”