Phoenixville Bookshop Eager to Turn the Page as Pandemic Recedes

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Jason Hafer (l.) and Robb Cadigan
Image via Publisher's Weekly.
Jason Hafer (l.) and Robb Cadigan

After managing to survive the pandemic that started not long after its opening, Reads & Company bookshop in Phoenixville is eager to start a new chapter. Alex Green covered the owners’ endurance for Publishers Weekly.

Jason Hafer, who previously co-owned Phoenixville’s Wolfgang Books, joined forces with Robb Cadigan, author of Phoenixville Rising, to open Reads & Company in May 2019.

The men believed that with the revitalization of Phoenixville, it was the right time to open a bookshop.

The initial year started auspiciously. They drew early support from many authors and managed to hit their initial sales benchmarks.

The forced COVID-19 closure was an inhibitor, but they creatively moved forward. Hafer and Cadigan hosted online events and sold books through Bookshop.org.

“We developed a very devoted following. So when we closed and said, ‘You can still support us by buying books online,’ we saw so many Bookshop.org orders, I don’t even know if we could have kept up without remote fulfillment,” said Hafer.

Now, the pair are returning to in-person events, story times, and other community-focused programming. They also hope to host author readings and workshops in the apartment above the shop.

More about Reads & Company’s pandemic survival tactics is in Publishers Weekly.

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