Rainy Day Books, a longtime Fairway bookstore, is officially changing ownership.
The upshot: After announcing plans to retire in May, Rainy Day Books owner Vivien Jennings and chief operations officer Roger Doeren are officially selling the bookstore to Made In Kansas City and Friends of Rainy Day Books.
- Made in KC is a local retail shop — owned by Tyler Enders, Keith Bradley and Thomas McIntyre —with 16 locations and businesses including Outta the Blue in Leawood.
- Friends of Rainy Day Books is a group of 16 loyal customers.
Jennings and Doeren told the Post on Thursday afternoon that, while they themselves are retiring, Rainy Day Books is not.
What they’re saying: “We have great-grandkids and grandkids and family and friends, we just want to — while we still can — enjoy those activities and celebrate life with them and turn the reins over to a younger set of us and people that will take it on for another 47-plus years,” Doeren said.
‘Kindred spirits’: Doeren told the Post the new owners are he and Jennings’ “kindred spirits,” and that’s what made them a good fit to take over the bookstore — which turns 47 years old on Nov. 4.
- Jennings said the new owners’ entrepreneurial spirit aligns with the vision for Rainy Day Books — or the “legacy of literacy,” as Jennings and Doeren call it.
- A “legacy of literacy,” or the value of communication and connecting people to ideas, is something the new owners will continue, the couple said.
- Jennings and Doeren said the bookstore served as a way for them to contribute to the community and ensure others are “awake, aware and active” in the community.
Rainy Day Books sale details
Jennings said the sale is anticipated to be finalized in November.
- Jennings and Doeren plan to be as “involved in the business through the end of the year and beyond in whatever way we need to be in terms of transitioning to their leadership and making sure the customers are taken care of,” Jennings said.
- There will be a collaboration of leadership between the change because the customer experience is still the highest priority, Jennings added.
Key quote: “We are already working on that and they are already working on that to just have this collaboration of the change,” Jennings said. “We are taking it slowly. Roger and I can work still as much as we want, if it takes longer than into the beginning of the year.”
