Main Street Business

The idea for Lakeville Books & Stationery was born out of the desire to once again have a bookstore nearby. Owner Darryl Peck and his family had recently moved back to Lakeville, CT, from Georgia (where they run another bookstore, Righton Books), and were shocked to see how few retail stores there were on the main streets of Lakeville and Salisbury. In a two-fold effort to fulfill their own desire for a bookstore in their hometown and bring back brick-and-mortar retail to Main Street in Lakeville, Darryl and his family purchased a vintage 1880 building, completely renovated it, and opened its doors within the first week of April of 2025. 

“During the first three weeks, almost everyone who came in asked us where the novels or the children’s books were, so we very quickly decided that an expansion would be necessary,” Darryl mused. 

Less than three months after opening, Lakeville Books & Stationery expanded, renovating the upstairs of the building to house more than 7,000 additional books in fiction, children’s, biographies, history, young adult, and more. 

A family affair

Lakeville Books & Stationery is a true family business, with Darryl and his wife, Anne, running the store, and their daughter, Alice, serving as the general manager. Darryl started his retail career in New York City and has sold a variety of different products in stores small, big, and international. Harboring an interest in cooking for most of his life, Darryl handpicked the 600+ cookbooks that line the shelves in the newly renovated upstairs. 

Anne grew up in Georgia and was “dashing off thank you letters and other polite correspondence from the time she could print with a pencil.” She has a degree in architecture, worked in the interior design sector for many years, and is now a local real estate agent – all of which have informed her selections of architecture and home books on the shelves at Lakeville Books & Stationery. 

Alice is a Northwest Corner native and serves as the store’s general manager. She loves Formula One and visiting Lime Rock Park, so she curates the store’s broad automotive section. She has also been collecting notebooks since childhood and enjoys curating the store’s stationery offerings.

On the shelves

Lakeville Books & Stationery is a general interest bookstore, with an extensive collection of books that cover a variety of subjects, from interiors, gardening, architecture, design, automobiles, photography, and cooking, alongside the classic categories of fiction, literature, nonfiction, and memoirs. 

For fine writing needs, Lakeville Books & Stationery stocks a variety of stationery, notecards, greeting cards, notebooks, and journals from brands around the world, as well as globally sourced writing utensils. Also on the shelves, you can find jigsaw puzzles, art supplies, games, and more.

Seasons of change

After years of owning and operating a bookstore, Darryl has learned what it takes to curate a great selection of books. “We have a very deep selection of beautifully illustrated books on art design, photography, and automobiles. We’re invested and committed to offering a big selection that covers many different topics.” On the day I stopped by in early July, he was getting ready to sift through the fall catalogs – encompassing over 20,000 books! – to decide what titles to bring to the Lakeville Books & Stationery shelves this autumn. 

Darryl grew up browsing at Rizzoli Bookstore on 57th Street in Manhattan, so when he founded Righton Books in St. Simons Island, GA, his goal was to make it a mini-Rizzoli of sorts. That idea received very positive feedback and turned out to be incredibly successful, so he endeavored to create the same experience in Lakeville. 

“I think the biggest advantage is that we know our neighbors. Even though we were away for a bit, all of our friends are still here,” Darryl notes. “It helps that a lot of what we have to do in a bookstore is talk to our customers and neighbors, so we discuss the history of our community, the things going on now. We know Lakeville well.” 

Browse online too

One of the most important things to Darryl was ensuring that Lakeville Books & Stationery had an accessible, extensive website to support book buying regardless of your location. The Lakeville Books & Stationery website is updated daily and shows what books and products are in stock in real time. 

“If you want to know if we have a book on our shelves before you come visit, go to our website,” he says. “It’s an easy way to support small businesses like ours instead of other online retailers.” 

Next steps 

Darryl and his family haven’t stopped for a minute since they began renovating Lakeville Books & Stationery, and they don’t plan to stop now. Coming up, Darryl hopes to host events in the bookstore in conjunction with local authors and libraries. 

“We haven’t stopped for a minute since over a year ago, but now we can catch our breath a little bit,” Darryl says. “We’ve been here in Lakeville for a long time and have seen it change. Supporting small, local businesses is more important than ever and we’re grateful that our community has been so responsive. We’re just getting started.” •

To learn more about Lakeville Books & Stationery, visit them in-store at 329 Main Street, Lakeville, CT, online at lakevillebooks.com, or on Instagram @lakevillebooks.