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Date: 12/19/2022
EASTHAMPTON/NORTHAMPTON – A thought one couple briefly conjured for when they retire is coming to life for Dianne and Kevin Germain.
The full-time booksellers based in Easthampton are officially acquiring ownership of Gabriel Books, the longtime bookstore on 21 Market St., and opening their own brick-and-mortar under their Splendor Solis moniker.
Background
Kevin and Dianne have been avid readers and book collectors for most of their lives. They met in Boston and built a collection of books by exploring the used bookstore scene in the area.
About five to seven years ago, the couple began realizing that they carried some valuable books, so they started selling books on the side while simultaneously working their day jobs in the medical field.
“It was just before COVID-19, maybe 2019, where we thought, ‘hey, we can have a little business doing this,’” Dianne told Reminder Publishing in an interview over Zoom. “We became a partnership and set it up so we could sell books online under the name, ‘Splendor Solis Books.’”
For the most part, Splendor Solis features a curated selection of new and used books of “esoteric cultural significance.” More specifically, they sell books about spirituality, books on the occult, books about esoterica, as well as other selections related to math, crime, music, medical, myth and more.
“We’ve always been interested in looking at different ways of life,” said Kevin. “A lot of our collection reflects our research and reading interests.”
The duo continued the business as a side gig through most of 2019 and 2020 mainly as an online entity, but as the world opened back up in 2021, Dianne and Kevin expanded their reach by attending various vending events in Boston and participating in local happenings, like Northampton’s Summer on Strong.”
Through these experiences, Dianne and Kevin started meeting people from different age groups and backgrounds who were interested in similar topics of research. “People love to have conversations and share the stories they’re interested in,” said Kevin, of the vending events. “It wasn’t just a business opportunity for us, it was a community opportunity for us.”
“[These events] were successful,” added Dianne. “We were like, ‘wow, people are really into our weird books.’”
After seeing how viable their business was becoming, Dianne and Kevin pursued the profession in a full-time capacity about a year ago and are now fully poised to open their own physical location. The goal, according to the couple, is to have a tentative opening date of Jan. 11. Dianne, however, told Reminder Publishing that people should keep an eye on their social media of any updates or changes to the plan.
The path to opening the brick-and-mortar
“We developed a business model that was sort of specific,” said Kevin, referring to how they initially planned on operating the business. “We were just going to do online and vending events.”
The couple did not necessarily reject the idea of opening a brick-and-mortar, but they found the idea to be a difficult one given the economic context.
As they continued to attend vending events, however, Kevin and Dianne found out that Gabriel Books was looking for another owner to take over the location, and their vision of the business shifted.
“We thought, if we were going to open the bookstore, that is the exact type of location we’d like to have,” said Kevin. “It’s in downtown Northampton, it’s small, they’ve been there for a long time…and it was an opportunity to carry on what they’ve done. It’s an honor to take the baton from them.”
Pattie Riley and her late husband John ran Gabriel Books for 29 years. The longtime staple was unable to be reached for comment as of press time, but according to Dianne, Pattie had been adamant about selling the business to enter retirement.
The next steps
Kevin and Dianne are planning to officially take ownership of the shop on Jan. 3. In the meantime, they are completing some housekeeping items before changing the interior of the store to make it their own.
“It’ll be nice that we’ve been out in the world in the way that we have,” said Dianne. “We’ve built ourselves in a community from all over…it will be really nice to meet all of these people in person. We want to build that local community as we have online.”
The owners plan to continue their online services and will also continue to attend vending events when they can. They may also look into spearheading in-store events like special talks and readings. The opportunities are endless now that they have their own spot.
“We’re excited to add to the energy that’s already been built in that section of town,” said Kevin. “Being local is now feeling exciting.”