Winthrop bookstore reopened this week
When Trail’s End Bookstore reopened this week under new ownership, nothing much changed from the customer’s perspective. But expect new owner Paola Merrill to put her own touches on the store before long.
She’s well known inside the Methow Valley and out as an artist and videographer who became a YouTube phenomenon during COVID-19 with her engaging rural lifestyle channel called “The Cottage Fairy.”
Merrill and her husband Luke Garing — a member of the Liberty Bell High School class of 2007 who is now a surveyor with Tackman Surveying — purchased Trail’s End from Christine Janikowski and Abilene Hagee.
The former owners grew the bookstore threefold in 13 years. Nine years ago, they moved Trail’s End one short block in downtown Winthrop, from where the restaurant Meza is now to 241 Riverside Ave.
In an email message, the former owners thanked their supporters.
“Thank you to our family, friends, longtime customers and visitors for your support these last 13 years. We couldn’t have done this without you, and for that we are ever grateful,” they said.
Familiar faces
Merrill is pivoting from her recent internet fame to run Trail’s End — although she will still post occasionally to her YouTube channel.
“I still want to keep it up, but I want to do something a little more local and community focused,” she said.
Before moving to the valley in 2019, Merrill studied English literature at Western Washington University in Bellingham, where she worked at that city’s own beloved independent bookstore, Village Books. She’s also been a Trail’s End employee for the past several years.
“I’ve always loved working with books and people,” she said. “It’s been fun getting to know a lot of my customers here throughout the years.”
Customers will find other familiar faces at the store, too. Staying on as employees are Melissa Jolley, who has worked there for nine years, and eight-year Trail’s End veteran LaTanya Ott.
Jolley will step away from her role at the bookstore, she said, to focus on her own business, ML Farrier Services.
“I’ve been really grateful that the store has helped me to have a really stable place while I build my own business,” Jolley said. “It’s a bummer to be leaving in the spring, but also it’s a celebration because it means that my own business is viable.”
When Ott and her husband, a ranger at Pearrygin State Park, moved to the Methow nine years ago, they were leaving family and friends.
“My grace was that there was a bookstore in the town,” Ott said. “I’ve just always — since I was a little kid — loved books.”
Fellow book lovers will be happy to know the new owners will keep the same broad selection in the store. Some inventory has been shuffled a little. The nature books, for example, are closer to the natural light from the back windows.
“Everyone is welcome at the bookstore,” Merrill said. “Anyone who walks in can find a book that they relate to on some level, and that’s something that we really strive to do.”
The store will continue to offer more than just books. Shoppers can find arts and crafts, stuffed animals, toys, puzzles and board games. Merrill is an avid board gamer, so she can offer personal recommendations.
Trail’s End Bookstore at 241 Riverside Ave. in Winthrop is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. Contact the store at 996-2345 or info@trailsendbookstore.com.
