ABOUT THE STORE:

Kennebooks....more than a bookstore
Established: May 2009
Retail Space: 3.500 square feet
Number of Books: 11,000 with more arriving all the time
Number of Employees: 11

Kennebooks unique location in an beautifully restored antique farm house and barn, has a feeling of a home. There is a couch in the children's room to snuggle into, a wood-stove to sit by, lots of little spaces to read quietly, and a big front porch to read on. There is a gathering room upstairs for groups of all sizes. We host many events at Kennebooks including frequent Author Signings, a weekly Children's Story Hour, seasonal events, Children's Entertainment events, in-store clinics and workshops.  We also participate in community events such as the Christmas Prelude, and much, much more. Our website (www.kennebooks.com) allows our customers to view our extensive Calendar of Events, browse staff picks and photos of the store, and mush more.

Meet the Staff

Trish and Gary Koch came to Kennebunkport for a summer vacation in 2002 from Minnesota and never left. Instead they went back, packed up and came back just in time to enroll their two daughters, Kristen and Katherine, at Kennebunkport Consolidated School. In the years since, they have built a home, Gary has sat on numerous boards, including the Kennebunk/Kennebunkport School Board, Rivertree Arts Board, and the Kennebunk/Kennebunkport Education Foundation, while Trish as been a constant presence at Consolidated School as a parent volunteer and member of the Kennebunkport PTA.

While still in Minnesota, Gary and Trish built highly successful Airfreight forwarding and Expedited Land Transportation businesses, so the notion of starting a new business in Kennebunkport seemed like a natural one. While looking for a space to house the business, it was important to the Kochs to build a bookstore that would reflect the same feeling as the community around it -- warm, relaxed, and welcoming.

After the year-long renovation of the farmhouse and barn, the Kochs were ready to staff the store, and knew that in these economic times, they would receive a lot of employee interest. What they weren't prepared for were the quality and quantity of the applicants, and as a result were able to staff the store with people they consider to be the best in the business.

Jane Phalen is the Store Manager and Adult Book Buyer and has been selling books for over 15 years.  She brings a wealth of knowledge to Kennebooks, having previously worked at Bookland, and more recently in Portland's Books, Etc. She is very happy be at Kennebooks, surrounded by reading material! Jane is married and has two children. Her favorite departments are historical fiction and mysteries.

Ann Carmichael is our Events Coordinator.  She grew up in the retail business and when you see the quality of merchandise and gifts at Kennebooks -- it shows! As a child she learned first hand about retailing at her father's store, and then branched out on her own at Cole Haan and more recently as Wholesale Manager for Angela Adams. Ann lives in Wells with her husband Dick.  She enjoys golfing and gardening and can often be found roaming around the cookbook section of the store.

Kath Osborne is our Children's Book Buyer and has been selling books for more than 20 years, working previously for Bookland and Books, Etc. in Portland. She is thrilled to be a part of such a vibrant new bookstore as Kennebooks! Kath is married with a very spoiled, yet worthy cat. She enjoys reading everything from mysteries to children's books.

Kate Winn, a self-professed, lifelong book-lover, has been selling books for the past nine years in an independently owned store in Portland. Kate eats, breathes, and sleeps books and is unabashedly passionate about it. She enjoys talking with people about books, making recommendations, and just being in the same room with shelves of books! Kate lives in Portland with her husband and sons. When she's not reading, Kate is an artist who paints Maine landscapes and participates in art shows in the New England area and her work is featured at the Mast Cove Gallery in Kennebunkport.

Lou Miller is a fixture in Kennebunkport, whether it's at a school function or a PTA meeting, or volunteering at the food pantry at a local church -- everyone knows Lou. He and his wife Jill have created and operated several small businesses, one being Port Bakery right down the street from Kennebooks. Lou has always had a love of books and did his graduate work at Columbia in 17th Century English Literature, and his favorite authors include William Golding, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett -- among others.

Madeline Braun has been a librarian at Lyman Elementary School for 23 years. She has a love and passion for children's books and reading to students. She enjoys the diversity of working at Kennebooks and helping customers select the perfect book. She lives in Lyman with her husband Tim and spends time in the summer gardening and sailing.

John Monahan lives in Portland and has been working as a bookseller in independent bookstores for about 7 years.  He always enjoys a good challenge from the customer who doesn't know exactly what they want and loves to handsell the oddball book that needs a little extra push to find the right reader.