The last independent bookshop downtown is now owned by its customers

More than 1,300 readers bought shares to keep Tidemark Books open.

An open book on a table

When the owner of Tidemark Books announced she was retiring, regular customers feared the downtown shop would close. Instead, more than 1,300 of them bought shares and turned it into a cooperative.

“I always said the shop belonged to its readers. Now it actually does,” said founder Margaret Shaw, who will stay on as an adviser.