Bailey’s Bibliomania to make big move from the ‘Burg
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Bailey’s Bibliomania’s well-known sign features owner John Varner’s beagle, Bailey. The relaxing space inside Bailey’s has been a mainstay in Ellensburg for 11 years despite three previous moves to different locations.
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May 25, 2017
The books stacked on the walls, shelves and floors create a labyrinth of knowledge from wall to wall.
The smell of old paper wafts through the building as the sound of Louis Armstrong’s “It’s a Wonderful World” plays softly in the background.
Bailey’s Bibliomania, a quaint bookstore here in Ellensburg, is moving to Main Street in Kittitas.
The reason for this move was simple: their lease was up.
The lease expired after an agreement for five years that had an option for another five said John Varner, co-owner of the bookstore with his wife, Mary. That agreement was only valid under those owners, however.
The old owners ended up selling the property and the Varner’s lease belonged to the new owners.
They were obligated to follow it, but it turned out that they were not able to negotiate a tenable lease price level.
Varner is currently raising funds for the account on GoFundMe for the move. They are trying to reach a goal of $7,500 and have currently raised over $1,500.
Varner was informed that the new building owner wanted the building empty around six months after they bought the place, so Varner and his wife have been looking for a new place ever since.
“We couldn’t find anything big enough in Ellensburg,” Varner said. “Ended up one day driving out to Kittitas and right on Main Street there was a big green mercantile with a ‘For Rent’ sign in it.”
Varner and his wife are happy with the arrangements that have been made with the new owner.
“We are now very glad that we are going to move out there, even if we would have prevailed and been allowed to stay here. Then five years from now I would be in the same position,” Varner said.
The remodeling should be done by the end of June, Varner said, but the moving process will begin before that.
“We will probably start packing up about two weeks previous to that. We are already starting to move some boxes to storage units out there, Varner said. “We can get the stuff out there probably by the first week of July to the second week, but it won’t be ready to open probably until the second week of August.”