Innisfree Bookshop owners sell to Meredith residents

MEREDITH -- Innisfree Booshop in Mill Falls Marketplace has been purchased by Casey and Drew Gerkken of Meredith. Casy Gerkken had worked at the store from 2009 to 2013, according to Jim Meryman and Laura Mammarelli who recently sold the busiess to the Gerkkens.

Meryman and Mammarelli moved to Holderness in 1985 to open their first store in Lincoln. That store expanded several times before they opened a second location in Meredith in 1992. In 1998 the Meredith store expanded to its present size. Innisfree  will celebrate its 25th anniversary in July. Meryman and Mammarelli have been working with Casey Gerkken over the last several months to facilitate a smooth transition and are thrilled that a local, passionate book lover will be the new owner.

The Gerken family moved to New Hampshire from Colorado in 2008 to raise their family and have been engaged members of the Meredith community ever since. Their daughter attends Inter-Lakes Elementary School, and Casey is a member of the Greater Meredith Program Design Committee and has been Interlakes PTO treasurer. She is enthusiastic about becoming a part of the Mill Falls Marketplace and a small business owner in Meredith, and plans to take advantage of opportunities to work with other Marketplace and Main Street business owners to expand the economic development of the town.

Meryman said, “Casey will bring new energy to the store as well as stewarding the business into the 21st century.”

Innisfree customers will continue to enjoy the expertise of the Innisfree staff and the wide ranging and always updated selection of titles, games, toys, puzzles and cards they have been accustomed to. Casey is looking forward to reuniting with long time employees Bev Newton and Martha Hulsman, whom she worked with previously, as well as working alongside the rest of the existing staff. The Innisfree team will all be working together to continue and to boost the excellent independent bookstore experience Innisfree customers deserve.

Planned improvements include increased efficiency of day-to-day operations and development of a website and growing social media presence. Casey Gerkken is committed to the enrichment of the community by expanding a healthy business that nurtures a sense of place where booklovers can meet, talk, read and share ideas that can help shape the future of the town of Meredith as a place for thoughtful and intelligent discourse.

Innisfree Bookshop, shown above from the exterior, has been sold by longtime owners Jim Meryman and Laura Mammarelli to Casey and Drew Gerkken of Meredith. (Courtesy photo)