After operating out of two locations in as many years, Coastal Bookstore is closing up shop and heading online.
On Dec. 28, just after its one-year anniversary in Newport Village, Port Moody’s only dedicated bookstore shuttered. Over the next few weeks, owner Danica Sommerfeldt will be transitioning the store to a web-only presence, according to her recent email newsletter.
“What comes next? I’m still figuring it out,” she wrote. “But I can tell you that it’s not over. And, I’m determined to use this opportunity to refocus on the bookstore’s original vision and values. Things had gotten out of hand as I desperately chased profit in service of the enormous rent I had taken on. It didn’t feel good.”
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An interview request went unreturned by press time.
Coastal Bookstore began as an online store over two years ago. Its first brick and mortar space was in Coquitlam’s Austin Heights. Sommerfeldt operated the space as a pop-up store before moving into Newport Village on Dec. 1, 2021. Three weeks later, the store flooded, pipes bursting in cold weather.
A GoFundMe campaign kept the lights on until the store was able to reopen a few weeks later in mid-January.
Sommerfeldt made the decision to return to the store’s online roots in October.
“I processed my grief over several weeks, and as time passed I found a renewed energy and entrepreneurial creativity welling up within me when thinking about the business and the future,” she wrote.
While all the changes coming to Coastal Bookstore haven’t yet been finalized, Sommerfeldt explained the shift feels good.
“I hope that, as we flip the calendar over and enjoy that feeling of a fresh start, that you feel inspired to take a hard look at something you’re holding on to that doesn’t feel good,” she wrote. “Let it go. Take the leap. Happy New Year! Thank you for everything.”
Things are expected to be quiet at the store over the next couple of weeks with a website refresh and more announcements set for mid-January.
