A Holiday Letter...

As we prepare for the final months of our bookselling year we ask the reader, either our loyal customers or possible first time patrons, to consider the following. Listed below are five important reasons to take action by coming out to Essex and visiting our locally owned, independent, unique, beautiful, and fully stocked store:

Our holiday catalog represents the world of the independent bookstore as it prepares for the holiday season. In it you will find books for the season that have been recommended by indie booksellers from all across the United States and from our own staff here at Phoenix Books. These are not the cookie-cutter, talking-head choices you see at Costco or online but books that indie booksellers believe in. Yes, there are bestseller selections but there are also many, many treasures available in our store that were selected by real book readers and not algorithms. These selections are books that we believe will stand the test of time and not disappear under the next wave of faddish popularity. For those of you who read this and have never been to Phoenix Books and Cafe in Essex at the Shoppes and Cinema, please make a choice to come out and see for yourselves what a locally owned, independent, front list bookstore has to offer. Try Phoenix Books once at least, perhaps include us in a bucket list of things to do before the end of the year. We think you will be both surprised and delighted by what you find within this lovely place of books, art, and gustatory delights.

Shopping Local and Internet Sales Taxes: We really do believe that shopping locally is important. We support shopping locally at brick and mortar stores of any kind. Although no one can be philosophically perfect, we can be mindful of what we purchase and where we purchase it. When you buy online, for example, you are likely not charged sales tax. A plus, you say. Possibly so, but most of us believe in shared responsibility for ourselves and our fellow citizens. If you avoid paying sales tax you shift the burden for state services to our neighbors and to our own real estate taxes. You diminish the quantity and quality of those important state services available to our friends, neighbors, and community members. And yes, this finger is pointed directly at Amazon.com, whose influence has convinced our own state government and legislature to take no action in this area even as the state chokes on a budget shortfall and unanticipated expenditures needed to put our state back together after those summer storms. If you do business, no matter how big or small, the regulatory playing field should be the same for all players. Creating an unfair retail environment by allowing some entities to avoid collecting tax while requiring others to do so seems to me to be the height of inequality. By the way, you should know that even though the online retailer does not collect the state sales tax the consumer is required to report and pay it in their annual tax filings. Thus, nearly all of us violate the law on an annual basis.This issue should be addressed by our elected officials and not ignored out of misguided fear. If you are interested in this please feel free to call Mike DeSanto directly.

A Full Service, Front List, Bookstore for Downtown Burlington: As you read this, the owners of Phoenix Books, Mike DeSanto and Renee Reiner, are engaged in a serious effort to open a bookstore in Burlington. At this time we are in the planning stage. So now is the time to contact us if you have any interest in exploring the possibilities for such an enterprise, as a supporter, investor or partner. Reach out to Renee by calling the store at 802-872-7111 or by email at "Renee Reiner" renee@phoenixbooks.biz. We plan to keep the Essex store open and establish a nearly 6000SF store on or near Church Street within 6 months. And feel free to let us know what you might like to see from a front list store in Burlington. Oh yes, Mike and Renee believe the future can be profitable for a unique, local and independent front list book store in downtown Burlington! So call us and find out why this is true.

The Gallery At Phoenix Books: As a sign of the continued evolution of Phoenix Books in Essex, we recently completed the addition of many new gallery-style fixtures for local art and pottery as well as the installation of a large art show around the walls of the store. Without boasting too much, we have it on good authority that Mike loves this new look and feels like he has achieved the look, the feel, the color, the freshness, the spaciousness, and the ambiance he sought upon opening the store in October of 2007. He has said " I would proudly place the design and floor plan of Phoenix Books next to any other bookstore I have ever seen. We are a feast for the senses and the mind. You really do have to see it to believe." Come out for a visit, the gallery tour is free and Mike, who fancies himself quite the barista, is always ready to whip up a fresh latte or cappuccino for a first time visitor or our loyal returning patrons. And that leads us to...

The New Kitchen at Phoenix: You may have missed the modest renovation of the interior of the kitchen but we call your attention to the shiny, high end sandwich refrigeration unit. These improvements serve to enhance our capacity as a restaurant and cafe and the investment serves to emphasize our commitment to stay in Essex. Rachel M will give free tours of the facility. You really should come out for a visit merely to sample the almost daily creations the cafe features.

On behalf of our dedicated staff of booksellers, Mike and Renee wish everyone a healthy, happy and, yes, a prosperous holiday and new year. We ask you to come out to Phoenix Books to see for yourselves what literary treasures populate our shelves and what surprising treasures you can find amongst the art works, gifts, stationery, toys, games, and stocking stuffers of the most unique and special sorts.

Mike DeSanto and Renee Reiner
Owners of Phoenix Books and Cafe

Introducing the Phoenix Theater Group

Essex, Vermont – Sunday, November 13: Local bookstore owner Mike DeSanto announced the formation of Phoenix Theater Group just weeks after opening The Gallery at Phoenix Books & Cafe in Essex, Vermont. The new theater group will present Edward Albee's play At Home at the Zoo from December 7th to December 10th at 7:30 p.m. in the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts in Burlington’s Old North End. Tickets are $15 for open seating, and more information can be found at www.offcentervt.com. Student and senior tickets are $10.

The mission of the Phoenix Theater Group is to produce an eclectic offering of contemporary plays that present strong political, social or philosophical statements which speak to current and universal issues in our society. Actors will demonstrate their skills in productions that are faithful to the playwright’s intentions. Plays which have minimal production requirements will allow for the emphasis to be on the play and the performers. Mike DeSanto is the artistic director/producer of the group.

DeSanto says "I seek plays that are didactic in the classical sense, in that the play teaches the audience about life - the way early Greek plays taught citizens the right way to be citizens. I sense a dearth of challenging theater in the area and want to produce plays with roles actors can really get their teeth into and wrap their minds and imaginations around - roles that are provocative and new. I'd love to form a core group that keeps coming back to do plays."

Examples of plays under consideration in the future include, but are not limited to: Circle, Mirror, Transformation by Annie Baker; Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee; Marie and Bruce by Wallace Shawn.

The Phoenix Theater Group will seriously consider producing plays by local authors, as well as plays by talented new and emerging playwrights. Gender-neutral casting will be considered when appropriate. The group will be funded by private sources, and efforts to gain 501.c.3 status are underway. The intention is to use the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts as the home stage, but future productions could be staged at any venue in the region. Submissions by local authors may be made directly to Phoenix Theater Group, c/o Mike DeSanto, 34 Valley View Drive, Milton, VT. 05468. Inquiries may also be made at mike(dot)desanto(at)gmail.com, or at 802-363-6116.