Natalie Ponte, a Weston resident, considered launching a mobile bookstore. But one fateful night, she spotted an unusual shed available for rent in Cannondale Village, and was immediately intrigued with its potential.
“I was actually just having dinner at Baldanza [at the Schoolhouse] a couple months ago, and looked over at this little shed and saw that it was for rent,” Ponte said.
Her vision to transform the tiny structure into a vibrant bookshop quickly became a reality. After a soft opening in mid-July, Schmendrick’s Bookshop officially opened last week on Wednesday, July 29.
Ponte is thrilled with the location and the response from Wilton residents.
“I’ve always loved Cannondale Village,” Ponte said. “I’ve been shopping at Penny Ha’Penny for years, and am a huge fan of the Schoolhouse, both before and after it became Baldanza, so it’s kind of a dream come true to get to be among those amazing businesses.”
“The Wilton community has been so welcoming,” Ponte said. “It definitely has proven my hunch that the town could support a bookstore.”
Independent and In-person
Opening a bookstore might seem like a risky venture in the era of Amazon, e-books and audiobooks. For Ponte, the inspiration grew out of her own work for Libro.fm, an audiobook app that shares profits with independent bookstores.
“I was working with all these booksellers through [Libro.fm], and I was jealous, and then inspired,” she said.
Before that, Ponte spent 20 years working at big tech companies including Facebook and Google. Now, she sees her bookstore as part of a broader shift — even a “backlash” — among consumers who long for more personal connections and not just convenient transactions.
“Things got really, really easy, but then there was a cost, right?” Ponte said. “Our attention is fragmented. We’re losing so much time to our phones. We’re feeling more isolated. People want community. They want to meet in person and talk about things together.”
Ponte believes the pendulum is swinging back from technology-driven experiences in favor of independent bookstores.
“It’s a thing,” Ponte said, referring to the “indie” bookstore trend. “People want physical books — they want personalized recommendations that are not from an algorithm.”
Ponte is targeting precisely those customers. One recent social media post by Schmendrick’s touted six book recommendations “for people fed up with Big Tech.” The shop also hosted a “silent book club” event inviting customers to “bring your folding chair, turn off your phone, listen to the babbling brook, and read your books, together.”
Partly out of necessity in the diminutive space, Ponte is carefully curating the selection of books in the shop. She’s decided to focus on fiction — and specifically what she calls “reading for pleasure” — with books that range from “challenging” to “light.” She is also prioritizing newer books, which she says often have waiting lists at libraries.
“I did sneak in a couple beloved classics because I just couldn’t resist,” she added.
The shop also carries a small assortment of non-book items, including bumper stickers, small toys, puzzles and tote bags.
A Colorful New Chapter
Ponte chose the name Schmendrick’s for dual meanings. She says it’s the name of a literary character in a book she has always loved — a magician who comes to discover his own magic. The name is also a Yiddish term for a foolish person — poking a little fun at herself for undertaking what she thinks some might say is a foolhardy idea, daring to compete with behemoth Amazon.
Ponte was not familiar with the shed’s storied past until she met the owner, Marc Gueron, who shared some of its history with her, including the previous ownership by famous actress and Cannondale preservationist June Havoc. It resonated with her.
“It has this really cool, Hollywood, literary backstory to it,” Ponte said. “It’s also been a creative hub for a long time. It was a gallery most recently, but it had also been an art studio… it has had so many lives, and they’re all really, really creative and culturally rich. So I do love being able to be part of that history.”
Ponte knew exactly what vibe she wanted to create inside the shop.
“My goal was to make it feel really vibrant and cozy,” she said. “I think that so many businesses these days feel kind of sterile.”
“So it’s super colorful,” Ponte said. “I really wanted Schmendrick’s to feel like it could be from any time, very vibrant and warm and welcoming.”
The same flair for whimsy Ponte shows in the bright orange-red bookshelves and patterned floor tiles is also seen in the tagline she likes to use for the shop: “for laughs, for luck, for the unknown.”
For someone whose original plan was putting her bookstore on wheels, Ponte seems quite pleased with putting down roots in Cannondale Village.
“I’ve felt so welcomed by the Wilton community since I’ve been here,” Ponte said. “It’s been amazing. It’s just a very warm place.”
Schmendrick’s Bookshop is located in Cannondale Village at 24 Cannon Rd., Unit 36, next to Baldanza at the Schoolhouse. Store hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 12-6 p.m. Please note the Schmendrick’s website is not fully developed yet but will have additional features soon.
