PROVINCETOWN – East End Books, Jeff Peters’ six-year-old labor-of-love independent bookstore, is staying in “the ideal spot” for the foreseeable future.
On January 20, the space that East End Books has rented for the last six years was sold by artist Paul Wisotsky for $499,000 to Ptown Dreams LLC. Peters, the owner of East End Books, is a partner with two others in Ptown Dreams LLC. He has an option to buy out his two partners in five years.
“It feels like it’s been a long road but an exciting one,” said Peters on the day of the closing. “It was exciting to sign on the dotted line.”
It has been quite a journey: From finding the perfect location, to opening a bookstore in the age of Amazon, to surviving a pandemic with the help of a GoFundMe campaign and the love of a community, to being able to purchase his space with, again, the help of a GoFundMe campaign and the love of a community, Peters has been focused and steadfast.
“It’s a great little success story,” said Steve Fischer, former executive director of the New England Booksellers Association.
“You have to have brains, but I think you have to have nerves of steel to go through everything he’s gone through and keep going,” said Fischer.
The Perfect Space & Jeff Peters’ List Of Books
Peters was born in Wilmington, Delaware and moved to Miami, Florida when he was 9. He later moved later to Tallahassee to go to Florida State University. He has been visiting Provincetown for 40 years.
While Peters said that opening a book store is “something I wanted to do for a long time,” he has a very diverse background. “I’ve been steeped in multiple worlds over the years,” he said.
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