Business & Tech
Dog Krazy Moving, Expanding
Nancy Guinn is moving her business to the storefront once home to Read All Over.
After more than six years in her storefront on Caroline Street, Nancy Guinn is moving her business. "I have no room," Guinn said of her current location. "I have inventory stored in my garage and throughout my home," she said.
On April 1, Guinn will open Dog Krazy at 307 William Street, the space now occupied by Read All Over Books.
"I've been looking for a larger space for a couple of months," Guinn told Patch. "Then I heard Read All Over was available, and I called the owner," she said.
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Read All Over owner Paul Cymrot had posted a closed sign at the beginning of February.
"A curious conundrum has arisen at Read All Over, perhaps driven by the haunting and perhaps by the wishes of the community," Cymrot told Patch in an email.
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"Since it opened [in March 2010], it has tried to be both bookstore and community meeting space," Cymrot said. "The stage in the back hosts Tell, FAA shows, a weekly poetry slam, figure drawing classes, book clubs, classical music recitals, non-profit board meetings, yoga classes, author events, Pilate's classes, art openings, fully staged plays and a top secret Dungeons & Dragons club. Each time it hosts any of these things, it means rolling all the bookcases out of the way and making the space into something new. Then, the next day, building a bookstore all over again."
"Yes, it does sell books, but pitted against the behemoth and beloved institutions of The Griffin and Riverby and Beck's, it has not yet found its niche," Cymrot said. He chose to take a "winter break" to determine the future of the beloved space. Cymrot also owns Riverby Books on Caroline Street.
"The minute I walked into the space, I knew it was right," Guinn said. "It's so open, with all these little knooks and crannies. And I love the fact that it is haunted."
In speaking of haunting, both Guinn and Cymrot are referring to the noises, the feelings, the odd occurrences in the 1830 era building attributed to the ghost of a teenage boy. "Skeptical at first, Cymrot eventually had to concede that there was something strange going on at Read All Over," Steve Watkins wrote in the Free Lance-Star last October.
When Dog Krazy opens its larger space, it will have added grooming to the business. Guinn is being joined by Natosha Collins, owner of Fur the Love of Dogs Pet Grooming business, which is currently in the Central Park area.
Guinn is adding another service, too. "There are three little dressing rooms upstairs that we are going to turn into Doggie Suites," Guinn said. It will be akin to doggie day care. "When you're downtown with your dog and you want to have dinner or shop, you can leave them here," Guinn said.
Anyone interested in leasing the storefront at 1011 Caroline St. should call B.T. Pitts Estate at 540-373-4888. "It's a great spot, right across the street from Foode," Guinn said. "My landlord has been amazing. He gave me a chance six years ago when many others wouldn't," she said.
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