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Breakwater Books Celebrating 50 Years

Breakwater Books, one of downtown’s most beloved stores is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Breakwater has gone through several ownership changes during its decades of business, but despite a pandemic, the pronouncement of the end of brick and mortar bookstores, and the onslaught of on-line books, Breakwater is still thriving by catering to their clientele in a way that only a small hometown bookstore can deliver.

Current owners, Richard Parent and Paul Listro, are long-time shoreline visitors and residents and have partnered on several businesses in the past. When they decided several years ago to semi-retire and slow their busy lives down a notch, they mulled a number of opportunities and settled on purchasing the shop just before the pandemic hit. Local businesses bore the brunt of those early lockdowns and uncertainties and Breakwater was no different. The partners’ ability to weather that storm countered the prediction that bookstores were slated to go the way of the horse and buggy.

“One of the reasons we bought the store, and an idea we had percolating, was the fact that bookstores were coming back. We actually bought the store when we heard it was available because of, and despite of Amazon and chains like Barnes & Noble, people were kind of missing that intimate independent bookstore experience,” Listro said.

Parent said that recent data shows that these big book suppliers are actually pulling back on many of their titles and only offering best sellers. That is allowing for even more breathing room for independents like Breakwater, to serve their customers.

“We’re fortunate, and we feel pretty good about the future. We’ve increased our profitability since buying it three years ago and feel happy about that,” Listro said. “It’s working now. But there are a few things we are looking at as the holiday season comes in and we feel that the future is looking good for us and for bookstores in general. We feel that what we have to offer is unique and special. We do ship and can special order books and our local customers around the shoreline can order from us and don’t mind waiting a bit because they want us to succeed and that is heartwarming.”

“Believe it or not, during the height of the pandemic we could actually get books more quickly to people than Amazon because they were so jammed, so for a bit we really had a lock on the market. That certainly didn’t last, but it was something that helped us keep steady through the pandemic,” Parent added.

“It’s something we are passionate about. We are passionate about the arts in general and this was a manageable venue for us so we really thought it was a great fit and a real possibility,” said Listro. “I knew the store from growing up here in the area, in East Haven, and I was a bit of a bookstore geek and three years ago we bought it, and we really have no regrets. It certainly is never what you think it’s going to be, it is a lot of work. But we have no regrets.”

Parent said that keeping a low overhead is essential, and that factoring the work that goes into a bookstore was actually a bit of a surprise to them.

“Even though we normally only [have] one of two copies of a book at any one time, all of those books have to be processed individually. It’s something you don’t think about. It is quite labor intensive, all the books have to be received, scanned and out into the system. There are a number of steps to actually get the books on the shelves,” said parent.

The owners said they concentrated on books and pulled back on items and trinkets that previous owners had tested out.

“We really wanted to keep it strictly to books as much as we could. And fill it with books that we thought were interesting. We figured out what the Guilford Community likes and really tried to cater to that. One thing that Richard does that is a big part of the store and of the labor required is searching for books and finding the titles that most interest us and our customers,” Listro said. “Richard is literally the front line with our publishers and he will look at thousands of books in order to find and pick and choose the best. That is huge part of it, and that is a big part of what makes an independent bookstore unique and brings in that quality-what is going to be interesting to our customers. Sue Peterson our office manager, who has worked for all four of the owners, is also a huge part of what makes us a success.”

That hands-on approach is what makes Breakwater and many hometown businesses thrive when big chains and even pandemics thwart a normal business plan, according to Parent.

“We recognized when we came here, we really wanted to keep it simple and sell books. Focusing on what people wanted. When we took over there was no real sections to the store-no science fiction, no classics, no romance, or real sports section. So, being able to present that and cater to what our clients wanted was something that I think Paul and really wanted to focus on,” Parent said.

Breakwater Books has had several much beloved owners during its time; Marion Young and Marion Harold opened the store in 1972, they sold the store to Maureen Corcoran, and then Liza Fixx became the owner prior to selling it to Listro and Parent.

“We are proud to be the owners and be part of that, and to hold up this legacy,” said Listro. “The town has really supported us and our customers helped keep us open during COVID, and there is a real sense of responsibility to Guilford.”