Bill and Lynne Compton have owned the Cherry Valley Bookstore, formerly Clough’s Bookshop, since 2019 (left). The sitting room upstairs is cozy and inviting (right). (Photos provided)
BUSINESS PROFILE
Bookstore a Community Mainstay for Nearly Three Decades
CHERRY VALLEY—Cherry Valley Bookstore is an independent bookstore located at 81 Alden Street in the heart of the historic Village of Cherry Valley. Formerly Clough’s Bookshop, there has been a bookstore at this location for nearly 30 years. Cherry Valley Bookstore specializes in used and rare books—with more than 15,000 volumes, their collection is filled with an eclectic mix of fiction, poetry, drama, and non-fiction. Additionally, they have a large selection of children’s books, including classics, vintage book series, and many favorites that have been enjoyed for generations.
The new owners, Bill and Lynne Compton, purchased the store in June 2019 and pledged to keep it the same quaint space that its patrons have become accustomed to over the years. They’re often asked how they came about buying the bookstore and there’s a great backstory.
Their daughter learned about the bookstore being for sale from the MessyNessyChic website and they decided to come explore Cherry Valley on a frigid day in January. The listing agent was nowhere to be found and all they could do was peek through the windows and then explore the area. They were graciously offered a hot cup of tea from Sue Miller at the Plaide Palette and later met Dale and Donna at The Tepee. When the Comptons were finally able to get into the store the power, and therefore the heat, were off. It was so cold you could see your breath. However, the magic of Cherry Valley was compelling, and the rest, as they say, is history.
In the five years since Bill and Lynne bought the store, they’ve focused on making improvements. There’s a new roof, siding and windows have been repaired and gutters installed to eliminate leaks, and the front was given a cheery coat of yellow paint. Inside, shelves and books have been cleaned, organized, and labeled. Their current selection of books dates from 1793 to the present and covers nearly every genre imaginable. There’s a new section giving a nod to the Beat movement, with books by and/or about Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs, and Cherry Valley’s own poet Charles Plymell.
As you enter the bookstore, the main room greets you with the children’s books, local, regional, and American history, natural sciences, an extensive gardening section, crafts, art, architecture, and photography. Also in this room are a collection of “Pretty Books,” mainly 19th century but with decorative covers and bindings, a large collection of 19th-and early 20th-century books and special editions; and the Special Collection, where you’ll find, among other things, a first edition of Booker T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery.”
From the main room there’s a hallway lined with history, biography, performing arts, women’s studies, religion, social sciences, and military history. The hallway leads to a back room with poetry, drama, music, foreign languages, African American, Judaica, humor, and medicine and healing arts.
Upstairs is a cozy sitting area and shelves filled with fiction, mysteries, and science fiction, as well as books on agriculture, animal husbandry, pets, hunting, and fishing. There’s well over a thousand mysteries, including one of the largest selections of Agatha Christie you’ll ever see.
You owe it to yourself to visit this fabulous bookstore. Some customers come in with a specific request or only to visit a certain section; others wander about for hours and return to the desk downstairs with a large stack of books and a huge smile on their faces.
