Peterborough author Michelle Berry is closing her Hunter Street Books online store so she can return to writing full time.
Berry made the announcement on her social media accounts and on her website at hunterstreetbooks.com on Saturday (November 13).
“I’m sorry to say that I will be closing Hunter Street Books’ online store as of December 24th, 2021,” she writes. “The primary reason for closing is because I want to get back to writing full-time.”
Berry first opened Hunter Street Books in downtown Peterborough as an independent retail bookstore five years ago, fulfilling a lifelong dream. In March last year, she closed her retail store but kept her online store running, renting space inside Meta4 Contemporary Craft Gallery to display a curated selection of books. Meta4 also served as a pickup location for Hunter Street Books’s online orders.
The author of three books of short stories and five previous novels, Berry recently published her latest novel, the literary thriller Everything Turns Away. She also recently announced her 2017 novel The Prisoner and the Chaplain is in development for a future screen adaptation.
“Now it is time for me to get back to my first love, writing novels and short stories,” Berry writes. “I’ve also, as some of you know, had some health problems for the last 5 years and need to take a step back. I suffer from an autoimmune disease that makes delivery and running the store on my own extremely hard. When I stopped doing delivery I noticed sales going down. It’s best for me to step back and concentrate on my family, my writing, and my health. ”
At the beginning of the month, Berry had announced that Meta4 Contemporary Craft Gallery would be closing its doors on December 24 — noting that co-owners Birgitta MacLeod and Bonnie Ward Thomson “are going to focus more on their own art and on running their flagship store in Port Perry” — and that The Toy Shop at 176 Hunter Street West would be the new pickup location for Hunter Street Books’ online orders.
“From here to December 24th I will take all your orders and sell in stock books with pick up at Meta4 Contemporary Craft Gallery,” Berry writes. “After December 24 you can pick up the orders that you have made and that haven’t come in before Christmas at The Toy Shop.”
Berry is encouraging people to still order books this holiday season so she can get rid of her in-stock books before closing.
“I want to thank the people of Peterborough,” Berry writes. “I’ve gotten to know so many amazing people and you’ve supported me through thick and thin, through the physical store and through online sales. Running a bookstore was a dream for me, but now I need to get on with other dreams.”
Berry’s website at hunterstreetbooks.com will be taken down on Christmas.
