I never wanted to use the licenses of this weekly report to toot my own business, but allow me a few paragraphs to make a short announcement. The Book Nook is moving to a new location, packing as we write this tome.

We will be relocating to the former Lane’s Pharmacy at five points, College and Scott streets.

We leave downtown Bainbridge with great sadness, because this has been a great place for business—in the town’s historic district in a building more than 100 years old. Perfect spot for a book store.

The new location, we think, will give us greater visibility, more needed room, and be part of the trend in business to moving south.

We all need to think of our downtown as the lifeblood of our community. There isn’t a visitor that goes into any of our stores that has not commented on how unique it its.

The city does a great job in keeping Willis Park the gem that it is, and lots of groups enjoy coming downtown to the park to hold meetings, rallies, weddings, concerts and many other activities. The last one being singing Christmas carols in the park on Christmas Eve, a long-time tradition began by this newspaper.

Downtown does have its problems.

Too many businesses come and go, staying a short time with hopes that customers will come into their stores and support there merchandise. A few merchants have had that luck, mainly being businesses that have been here for many years and have established a sincere rapport with their customers.

It takes years for some businesses to gain that foothold with customers, but in the meantime, the rent goes on, and gets more and more difficult to meet expenses.

We have been a downtown fixture for seven years, and have enjoyed our association. We would like to see all the stores filled with retail, customers finding the goods and services they need.

We would like to see the merchants work more closely together, to plan promotions, and discover new ways to promote the excitement of downtown shopping.

It’s not easy, and if you talk with other merchant organizations in other communities, it’s an ongoing task to keep interest in downtown merchandising.

We move because we think the new location will be a great spot for a book store. We are looking forward to the new visibility the location will give, and will have more room for expansion.

So please don’t desert downtown Bainbridge. And remember, it’s more than businesses on the Willis Park Square. The downtown has businesses up and down all the sidestreets, plus banks, attorneys, CPAs, offices and many other kinds of professional offices including the courthouse and county and city offices.

Downtown businesses need all your support.

When you come to Willis Park to attend an event, stick around after the event is over. Stroll the sidewalks, look into the store windows, come in and visit.

You might be surprised at what you will find.