Book Mark shutting its doors
Mount Pleasant will lose one of its only book outlets in the next three weeks.
Book Mark, 2200 S. Mission St., in Stadium Mall, will close as soon as its stock are liquidated.
Breckenridge resident Cindy Gilbert is not sure where she will shop once it has closed.
“I am really shocked and disappointed that they are going out of business,” she said. “It’s a smaller store, so I don’t feel so overwhelmed when I come in. They have a very large selection, and I’m not familiar with other bookstores in the area.”
Co-owners Deb Hayes and Gene Moutsatson have run the bookstore and coffee shop since 1999, though it opened in 1973. It moved to its current location in 1985, and was previously on Main Street.
The economic recession has affected small businesses nationwide and some say Book Mark is no different.
“People just don’t have the money to spend that they used to — they want everything at a discount,” Moutsatson said.
After serving the community for so long, he said it is difficult to not feel badly about closing.
“We are sad and disappointed,” Moutsatson said. “We’ve served this community for 37 years.”
Other locations closing, too
Book Mark has two locations in Owosso and Manistee that also will go out of business. These two might be purchased, Moutsatson said, but nothing is finalized yet.
He plans on retiring after the stores close their doors. His daughter, Kris, manager of Book Mark, is unsure of her future plans.
“Myself and our five employees who work here will be without jobs,” she said. “And four of them are college graduates, the fifth being very close to graduating.”
Gene Moutsatson advises new entrepreneurs to be well capitalized and be ready to work hard.
As for Book Mark, they do not feel they could have done anything differently.
Richard Templeman of Coleman owns Book Garden, 114 S. Main St., in downtown Mount Pleasant, and said his biggest challenge is the location, not having another bookstore in town.
“My biggest competition is to get people to fight the traffic, know where we are and come downtown,” he said. “The people at Book Mark are good about telling customers we exist.”
