Medina bookstore will celebrate grand opening on Sept. 25
Rear half of store will also be unveiled after extensive renovations
Press Release, Author’s Note
Provided photo: Julie Berry, an acclaimed author, purchased the former Book Shoppe in Medina and has made many changes to the Main Street location.
MEDINA – Author’s Note, Medina’s new bookstore, announces its grand opening celebration to be held on Saturday, September 25, featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony taking place, rain or shine, at 9:30 a.m. in front of the store at 519 Main St. The ceremony will be followed by an unveiling of the newly-refinished rear half of the store.
Throughout the day, giveaways, refreshments, and activities will help commemorate the day. For more details on the unfolding schedule, visit www.authorsnote.com.
“We’re thrilled to welcome the community, which has been so supportive of this project from the moment I bought the store, and we want to thank them,” explained author and owner Julie Berry. “We’re here because of Medina’s faith in and commitment to local small businesses, and to maintaining a vibrant downtown shopping district.”
Berry, a New York Times bestselling, award-winning author, was born and raised in Medina (as Julie Gardner), but hadn’t lived in the area since graduating from Medina High School in 1991. She and her family had been living in Los Angeles for several years at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. When they learned that the bookstore had come up for sale, they took a leap and relocated to Medina to reinvent the store as Author’s Note.
The bookstore, situated in Medina’s historic Main Street shopping district on the Erie Canal trail, occupies the site of the prior store known as The Book Shoppe, which served Medina shoppers for over 20 years.
Berry purchased the bookstore in February of this year and undertook an ambitious renovation and restoration project, dismantling the interior back to its original hardwood floors and antique molded tin ceilings. The front part of the store opened to the public on May 22, 2021, welcoming shoppers and tourists to Medina throughout the summer, but the rear portion, hidden behind construction drapes, hasn’t yet been seen.
“I couldn’t bear the thought of Medina no longer having a bookstore,” said Berry. “Preserving a bookstore in my own hometown was too wonderful an idea to pass up.”
Her vision for Author’s Note includes leveraging her ties to the publishing industry to bring authors and illustrators regularly into Orleans County for readings, signings, school visits, lectures, and events, thus connecting authors and readers in a wider reading community, once the renovation is complete and as pandemic-related health and safety concerns permit.
The independent bookstore offers new books for adults, teens, and children, both new releases and enduring classics. They also offer toys, games, puzzles, stationery, coffee and gifts.
The store serves shoppers at its brick-and-mortar store and nationwide at authorsnote.com, selling books, audiobooks, and e-books. They also offer onsite school and community book fairs, and institutional book-buying discounts to schools, libraries, churches, civic groups, nonprofits, and businesses.
