Northshire Bookstore Celebrates 50 Years
most important attributes for us.” Beyond books, Northshire maintains strong community ties: supporting local school musicals, hosting the Girl Scouts’ annual cookie booths, and welcoming wedding parties with personalized inserts inviting local lodging guests to visit the store.
A recent collaboration with the Kimpton Taconic Hotel launched a“ Bed, Breakfast, and Books” package— described in the hotel’ s own copy as“ a novel stay at Kimpton Taconic Hotel that should be bookmarked for future travel”— which includes a Northshire tote, tumbler, $ 25 gift card, and a complimentary one-year member rewards membership. It’ s a creative way to turn out-of-town visitors into long-distance regulars.
Any conversation about what makes
Northshire endure inevitably circles back to its staff— and few embody that continuity more than Nancy Scheemaker, Director of Retail Operations, who has been with the store for nearly 28 years. What began as a part-time position in the children’ s department evolved into nearly every role the store has to offer: adult sales floor bookseller, co-manager, community outreach coordinator, and eventually the person who opened and ran the Saratoga Springs location from the ground up.
“ I never intended to be here for 28 years,” she says with a laugh.“ It just happened. I really loved being part of the mission of the bookstore.”
Before Northshire, Nancy worked in community social work, focusing on women and children. She found that those skills
translated seamlessly into the art of the book recommendation— that putting the right book in the right person’ s hands was its own form of advocacy. One of her most rewarding experiences is when a customer returns a year later to say a bookseller’ s suggestion made their vacation.“ You really made my summer vacation. What are we going to read next?”
For Nancy, what has made Northshire exceptional is the collaborative spirit of its staff and its steady commitment to community.“ The Bookstore is really a cross section of business with a community center,” she says.“ It’ s about really listening to and participating in our communities. Independent bookstores are essential to communities across the nation. People come in to find comfort, to find inspiration. And that’ s what booksellers do— they do that through books.”
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