In a shocker of Wichita business news, Sarah Bagby looks to sell Watermark Books & Cafe

In some of the most shocking Wichita business news of late, Sarah Bagby is looking to sell her Watermark Books & Cafe.

“I’m not going to retire,” said the 66-year-old. “I’m going to rewire.”

That includes some adventurous travel and getting her garden in shape after working at the store since she was a 20-something part-timer a few years after Bruce Jacobs opened it downtown at 149 N. Broadway in 1977.

“My parents were both huge readers,” Bagby said. “That’s where I would go with them, either to a library or a bookstore. It was a very comfortable place for me to be in that store.”

Management invested in her, Bagby said, and she helped open two more stores at Central and Rock in Piccadilly Square, one focused on children’s books and one for adults.

However, when Bagby became majority owner in 1996, she decided to close those stores and move the main bookstore from downtown to Lincoln Heights Village at Douglas and Oliver.

“We were one of the last stores downtown,” Bagby said.

She made the crucial decision to add a cafe at the new store, which anchors the north end of Lincoln Heights.

“People were really wanting that,” Bagby said.

It was a time when coffee shops weren’t on seemingly every corner of the city.

Bagby said the late Amy Kellogg “was invaluable getting the cafe going.”

“It was a great decision to make.”

Bagby said it also was easier to have one store than three.

She said she’s seen the store through “the rise of the chains” and the advent of Amazon.

It was difficult, of course, but she said, “There were these challenges that made it interesting because you have to adapt.”

Bagby did that in part by holding author events both at the store and sometimes at larger venues.

“Our publisher partners were very supportive and knew that would help with the strength of the store,” she said.

“We just sold and sold books and had the passion and had the love of the community of Wichita, which has been so supportive of this store, so that’s how we adapted.”

Bagby also credits her staff.

“I hired really good people,” she said. “Honestly, they’re so capable. . . . It’s a turnkey deal pretty much.”

Since listing Watermark with Todd Bailey, president of Transworld Business Advisors of Wichita, Bagby said she’s had substantial interest — not all of it local.

The store is listed for $247,400, which doesn’t include an approximately $250,000 inventory.

“I just want to make sure we get the best fit,” Bagby said. “It would be fantastic to have somebody from the local community that knows the local community, that has contacts and has a knowledge for the community and a passion for the Wichita community.”

Another must is “a passion for books,” she said.

“You have to read a lot to be an owner. . . . And, honestly, it is so fun. . . . We talk about books constantly.”

There’s no chance that Bagby simply will close the store. She said she’s working to find someone who can help Watermark thrive for at least another half century.

Bagby said she’s always appreciated being the best steward she can for the store and said it’s in a great spot for someone else to step in.

According to the business listing, gross revenue is almost $1.9 million.

Bagby didn’t talk numbers, but she said the price is negotiable.

“It’s really exciting to have a lot of interest because I feel like . . . we’ll find somebody who likes and loves where the store is and can flourish with it, you know?”