With more than 5,000 books sold in its first two months, Ogunquit’s only bookstore is writing an early success story in the southern Maine summer tourism hotspot.
“For Barnes & Noble that’s probably a day, but for us that’s great,” John Ranco told Mainebiz in a telephone interview earlier this week.
He and John Cancy opened the Perkins Cove Bookshop in late May, with a grand opening on July 1. It's located near another business they own in the historic fishing-cove-turned eating and restaurant nook called the Perkins Cove Pottery Shop.
They’ve owned the pottery store for more than a decade, expanding it over the years into “more of a lifestyle store than a gallery,” according to Ranco.
Three years ago they started adding books, which eventually led them to open a bookstore when the space at 12 Perkins Cove Road became available, Ranco said.
With encouragement from community members and others in the book business, they jumped on the opportunity to open a bookstore separate from their existing business. The space became available for lease last fall, he said.
While the Perkins Cove Pottery Shop, in a non-winterized building, is a seasonal business, Ranco said the bookstore will stay open through December and then possibly on Saturdays during the winter “when it gets awfully quiet.”
The businesses employ 22 people combined, including six at the bookstore.
“People who love books apply for jobs at bookstores,” Ranco said. “We have this amazing talented crew of readers who work for us now who have such a breadth of knowledge around different titles and genres and adjacent authors.”
'Booked' solid
The 900-square-foot store is stacked with close to 1,600 titles from New York Times bestsellers to Maine authors and stories.
Alice Pearce, executive director of the Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce, said that Perkins Cove Bookstore is the first bookstore to open in the York County town for as long as anyone can remember – partly because of a 2006 local ordinance that bans franchises from operating there.
“People have been waiting for a bookshop forever,” she said. “It’s been a boon for local authors.”
Earlier this week, the store hosted its first author event featuring Hannah Orenstein, whose new novel called “Maine Characters” is touted as as a "love letter to lake life like 'The Parent Trap' for adults."
The store, which is on Facebook and Instagram and looking at adding TikTok to the mix as well, also does on-premises customer engagement including "gifting" a book for every 1,000 purchased in the store. The team is also developing a reading challenge program for next summer, Ranco said.
One thing that's struck Ranco since opening the store is the large number of local authors, many of whom come from a media background.
"It’s a side of our region I was aware of, but now to live it — it’s remarkable," he said.
Photo / Courtesy of Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce
At the Perkins Cove Bookshop recent grand opening, the store’s employees and owners were joined by town officials and community members. From left are: Lisa Jacobs, Karen Burke, Eileen Jacobsen, Peggy Harvey, Emily Peterson and Jacob Lawrence; owners John Ranco and John Clancy; local author J. Courtney Sullivan; Ogunquit Select Board chairperson Carole Aaron; Ogunquit Chamber chairperson Brian Crawford; and Ogunquit Town Manager Matt Buttrick.
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