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From the Mayor: Please Support Womrath, Bronxville's Independent Bookstore Since 1938

By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

May 3, 2023: I am writing this week to enlist the help of all readers in support of our iconic bookstore, Womrath’s. I know you share a collective love for the store and a deep commitment to its survival as one of the true cornerstones of our Village where it has been serving our community continuously since 1938.

Like many other small independently owned businesses, Covid wreaked havoc on its bottom line and the owners, Barbara and Morin Bishop, need our financial assistance to help them out short term so as to get them on a path for long-term improvements and hence survival.

I can’t think of a more worthy endeavor than ensuring we support one of the last independent bookstores that calls Bronxville home.

Part of the Village fabric since 1938, and in its present location since the 1950s, it was once a part of a chain of Womrath’s all around the metropolitan area. As of 20 years ago, there were only two left.

Residents still fondly remember the store having a mobile lending truck that traveled around town and sold or lent books to customers for a fee.  Lore also has it that Eddie Rickenbacker‘s mother worked on staff while Eddie was serving our country as a war ace as they lived just up the street on Sagamore Road.

Epitomizing old America, one gentleman recently wrote on Instagram that he remembered trying to buy a book of dirty jokes and got home to find out that the owner had already called his mother to tell her of his misstep!

From 1984 to 2019, Wanda and Gene Sgarlata owned and operated Womrath’s and became beloved Village fixtures. As one resident said, Gene was a master at what he did; you did not just purchase a book, you received a literary education.

Upon their well-deserved retirement, Barbara and Morin Bishop purchased the business in August 2019 and immediately began making updates; eliminating most of the unwanted magazines, changing card displays, expanding sections for new books and creating a comfortable seating area where customers can read, chat and enjoy an oasis of calm from a busy day.

They also launched a successful e-commerce website enabling customers to buy online and invigorated a dormant Instagram account, growing followers to over 13,000 today.

Plans were in development for a variety of in-store events to align with the desires of the customer base. Unfortunately, the pandemic struck six months after purchase, eliminating all capacity to hold in store events and seriously reducing revenues. They have been struggling to recover from that blow ever since, only surviving by taking on substantial debt.

Today while sales have significantly improved over the same period in 2022, they are still not adequate to cover current expenses and the Bishops were forced to draw on a credit line with unsustainably high interest rates.

In order to find a path to reimagine the store and create a new vision in the heart of Bronxville, the Bishops’ goal is to raise $147,000 in the next six months.

Some of the needed improvements include:

-The establishment of a café at the rear of the store with the hope of creating not only a new revenue stream but also increasing store traffic and creating a more contemporary ambience.

-Infrastructure upgrades, long neglected have to be addressed. They include removing the current drop ceiling to reveal the beautiful pressed tin ceiling and skylight some 10 feet higher; replacing unsightly fluorescent fixtures with attractive ones that also provide better lighting and covering the current floor with more appealing and durable hardwood.

-Author events, children’s activities, book groups, monthly introduction of new titles, and

-Initiating customer loyalty and subscription service programs are also needed to expand foot traffic and promotional reach both in person and online.

Of critical need is our donations to give breathing room, enabling the Bishops to pay down some of the crushing interest debt they are currently carrying from the pandemic.

Realistically, to ensure success now and in the future, they need to increase revenue by 15% based on similar café and store models. The café alone can conservatively generate a 5% growth leaving just a 10% differential to be developed through the upgrades, innovative programs and structural investments described above.

As background, current owners Morin and Barbara both came from the creative side of the literary business.

Morin has been a writer and editor for his entire adult life and there are even a few books in the store with his name on them while Barbara has a background as a graphic designer. For more than 20 years, they have had their own editorial services firm that has created some 200 books and special interest publications, many of them illustrated for a variety of publishers.

Having lived in the village for over 19 years, when they heard that the store was for sale, after weeks of introspection, they decided that owning and running the store would be a wonderful last act professionally, not only doing something they knew they would love, but saving a beloved institution in the process. Of course, that was before anyone could have foreseen a worldwide pandemic.

A Village has many stores, all part of the fabric of a small downtown but some represent more than just a business/an edifice. They represent what a community wants to be.  Personally, I cannot imagine our unique home without its bookstore.  It says something about what we hold dear. The bookstore is iconic, a wonderful throwback but in so many ways so is our one square mile and perhaps why we treasure it so.

If you could see your way to help, please send a check for any amount to Womrath’s Book Shop, 76 Pondfield Road or contribute via Venmo @WomrathBookshop.

Photo courtesy Village Hall

 

 

Government & History Directory

Bronxville Overview

Bronxville is a quaint village (one square mile) located just 16 miles north of midtown Manhattan (roughly 30 minutes on the train) and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is known as a premier community with an excellent public school (K-12) and easy access to Manhattan. Bronxville offers many amenities including an attractive business district, a hospital (Lawrence Hospital), public paddle and tennis courts, fine dining at local restaurants, two private country clubs and a community library.

While the earliest settlers of Bronxville date back to the first half of the 18th century, the history of the modern suburb of Bronxville began in 1890 when William Van Duzer Lawrence purchased a farm and commissioned the architect, William A. Bates, to design a planned community of houses for well-known artists and professionals that became a thriving art colony. This community, now called Lawrence Park, is listed on the National register of Historic Places and many of the homes still have artists’ studios. A neighborhood association within Lawrence Park called “The Hilltop Association” keeps this heritage alive with art shows and other events for neighbors.

Bronxville offers many charming neighborhoods as well as a variety of living options for residents including single family homes, town houses, cooperatives and condominiums. One of the chief benefits of living in “the village” is that your children can attend the Bronxville School.

The Bronxville postal zone (10708, known as “Bronxville PO”) includes the village of Bronxville as well as the Chester Heights section of Eastchester, parts of Tuckahoe and the Lawrence Park West, Cedar Knolls, Armour Villa and Longvale sections of Yonkers. Many of these areas have their own distinct character. For instance, the Armour Villa section has many historic homes and even has its own newsletter called “The Villa Voice” which reports on neighborhood news.

Bronxville Village Government Directory

Village of Bronxville Administrative Offices
337-6500
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends


Bronxville Police Department
337-0500
Open 24 hours


Bronxville Parking Violations
337-2024
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends


Bronxville Fire Deparment
793-6400

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