New chapter in bookstore's management

Elliott Bay Book Co. is getting a new boss.

Managers at the Pioneer Square independent bookstore, a literary mother lode for Seattle with its popular series of readings by authors, said yesterday that Peter Aaron, a longtime retail executive, will take over management of the store.

Aaron will form a partnership with Third Place, a company headed by Ron Sher, the developer who bought Elliott Bay from Walter Carr amid much fanfare in February 1999. The partnership will be called Elliott Bay Book Co. LLC.

Aaron was formerly an officer with Third Place, the parent company that owned both Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park and Elliott Bay Book Co.

Though Sher retains a financial interest in the store, he is distancing himself from day-to-day operation.

"This is a business that requires day-in, day-out, hands-on management," said Aaron. Sher "is ceding to me all the day-to-day operating management."

Sher acknowledged: "I don't have the time to give the attention on a day-to-day basis."

Besides Third Place Books, Sher, who owns Crossroads Shopping Center in Bellevue, has his own development company and owns a small lending company.

This is a new chapter in the long and sometimes troubled history of Elliott Bay, which has suffered setbacks common to independent bookstores - including competition from chains and online stores - as well as trouble with issues specific to its location, notably parking.

Yesterday, store principals said things were turning around.

"At least for the last six months," Aaron said, "it's been a period of stabilization. Sales are increasing. Inventory is increasing."

New residential and office development around Pioneer Square, Union Station and Safeco Field is drawing people to the neighborhood.

Rick Simonson, Elliott Bay's longtime events coordinator, is staying, as is longtime store manager Tracy Taylor.

In the year after Sher bought the store, there was high turnover among Elliott Bay staff. But Taylor said the staff has stabilized. Aaron was "the one person who took the plunge and really tried to understand the loopiness of the Elliott Bay culture," she said, adding that staff reaction to the news of Aaron's management was "overwhelmingly positive."