Schmendrick's Bookshop opened last month in Wilton, Conn., the News-Times reported. Located at 24 Cannon Rd., the 120-square-foot bookstore sells predominantly fiction titles. Owner Natalie Ponte, a lifelong reader who described opening a bookstore as a childhood dream, hosts a variety of events including author readings and silent book clubs.
"We're really excited that there seems to be a surge in interest in reading just for pleasure," Ponte told the News-Times. "I still have that feeling when you go into a bookstore--like it's a magical space."
Before opening Schmendrick's Bookshop, Ponte had a 20-year career working in advertising and business development for major technology companies. Roughly four years ago she left the tech world to get a master's degree in fiction writing from New York University, and her feelings of "frustration and disappointment" with the way tech companies have taken "our attention and our money and our time" eventually led her to open an independent bookstore.
She hopes Schmendrick's becomes a place where community members put down their phones and connect with each other over books.