Almost 15 years after founding The Bookmark in Bend, Owner Linda McGeary will be retiring.

“I’m going to really miss my customers,” McGeary said Wednesday. “Where else do you get to sit and talk about books?”

McGeary, 68, said she was hoping to retire before she turned 70.

Anita Keller, principal broker for Bend Premier Real Estate, added that McGeary has been looking to sell the business for over a year.

The Bookmark was placed on the market Sept. 2, according to Keller. She added that she has seen interest on the property, but no offers so far. The asking price for the business, which occupies 2,746 square feet, is $65,000, according to the website. McGeary said The Bookmark rents the space, and the building will not be included in the sale.

Founded in 2003 in its current location on NE Greenwood Avenue, just west of Third Street, The Bookmark was once one of three used bookstores within a two-block radius on Greenwood, along with The Paperback Exchange and The Open Book. The Open Book is still in operation, but The Paperback Exchange closed.

While many newer independent bookstores feature coffee shops and other amenities, McGeary said she prefers to keep it simple and stay focused on the books. McGeary said The Bookmark’s collection of used books has grown over time, and stands at approximately 100,000 volumes today.

“When you’ve been in business as long as we have, you accumulate a lot of books,” she said.

Despite threats posed by e-books and global marketplaces like Amazon, the independent bookstore industry has grown significantly in the United States following the Great Recession, according to the American Booksellers Association. While the association did not make the number of stores operating in the country available, American bookstores generated more than $6.1 billion in sales through July 2016, a 5 percent year-to-date increase over 2015.

“There are still a lot of people who would prefer to have the textural feel, the smell of paper and ink,” McGeary said.

She said she hopes and expects the business to remain a bookstore after it sells. Keller added that several potential buyers have a background in the bookstore industry.

“Of course, (McGeary) would like someone to take it over and keep all the same customers,” Keller said.

After retirement, McGeary said she is hoping to have more time to work on her fourth science fiction novel. She added that she was looking forward to having more time to travel with her husband, Duncan, who owns Pegasus Books on NE Minnesota Avenue in downtown Bend.

“We’ve always talked about going to Scotland, England, Ireland,” Linda McGeary said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com