Cantos Booksellers Sold

Jim Lindsey, a business broker at Bundy & Company, saw a newspaper story about the bookstore’s search for a buyer and called Rob Clark, who owned the business with his wife Jenni Nolen.

“It was a relief,” said Rob Clark. “I had been trying to start a new career while maintaining the bookstore but found it overwhelming. And I had no experience in selling a business. I was essentially working two full-time jobs, so when Jim called and showed us how he could remove the burden of the sale, we were delighted. Twelve hours later my wife and I told him to go ahead and we never regretted it.

“The brokerage process was a good experience for me. Not only did I personally learn a lot but I got my business sold. If Jim had not found us a buyer, we probably would have had to liquidate. Bookstores can be a good business but they are not that easy to sell. After meeting with Jim we had absolute confidence in him and our experience with Bundy & Company throughout the process was completely positive.”

Jim Lindsey did a business analysis of the sales potential of Cantos Booksellers and discussed the possibilities with the owners. He also placed listings on the Internet that could bring potential buyers from all over the country to look at the Cantos property.

“I wanted this business to sell, not only to satisfy the sellers, but because the loss of an independent bookstore in Downtown Roanoke’s City Market area would have been a loss for the community,” Lindsey said. “Once
we brought everybody together, the process went smoothly.”

The new buyer, Cathy Procopio of Albany, New York, was shopping
for business possibilities on the Internet when she saw a listing on one of the national sites that Bundy & Company uses to place paid
listings for selling a business. As an experienced bookstore operator and publisher’s representative, Cathy knew when she contacted Bundy’s offices in Roanoke she had made the contact that would satisfy her requirements. On December 1, 2004, she opened the doors of Cantos Booksellers as its new owner.

“Once we brought everybody together, the process went smoothly.”

“I had already been through two unsatisfying experiences with business brokers in New York and Vermont while trying to buy a bookstore,” she said. “I listened to each of them for a couple of weeks but there was something wrong with the way they dealt with me. Then I saw an advertisement on the Internet from Jim Lindsey, a broker with Bundy & Company. I called Jim and he kept in touch and sent me everything I needed, but he didn’t use any pressure tactics to get my business.

“Soon afterwards, everything began to fall into place and I found it was easy working with Jim, both as a businessman and as a person. Jim and the company he works with were wonderful and managed the sale in a very professional manner.”