Canio's, a Sag Harbor Institution, Still Searching for a New Home

With only about two and a half months remaining before their lease ends, Kathryn Szoka and Maryann Calendrille have yet to find a new home for Canio’s Books, the Sag Harbor cultural institution they have owned for a quarter century.

But Szoka said she didn’t want anyone to get the impression that the final chapter was being written for the store and community gathering place.

“What we really want people to know is we are actively looking for a new home,” Szoka said, although she acknowledged just what form that would take in a village with limited vacancies and rental rates spiraling out of control is yet to be determined.

“It feels like we are part of a broader wave of change that is coming through, not just this village but other coastal towns that are great resort locations and have gotten caught up in real estate fever,” Calendrille added.

The pair have been looking high and low for new digs in Sag Harbor and the surrounding area for pretty much the past year after their landlord informed them she would not renew their lease, because she wanted to undertake a much needed renovation of the building.

One potential storefront required massive and costly renovations. Others were too expensive, forcing Szoka and Calendrille to think outside the box.

One possibility presented itself at Christ Episcopal Church in the village, where the basement of the parish hall was available. But there were flooding and accessibility issues.

“They were welcoming to us, and it was a good fit. But they were in the process of looking at a renovation, and they decided to do other work,” Szoka said. “Their timing didn’t match our timing.”

Szoka and Calendrille also spoke with the Bridgehampton Museum, which had space available in the Corwith House, but the property is zoned for hamlet business, not retail, requiring a difficult-to-obtain use variance.

“The goal is to find something we can move into and not have to leave in 18 months,” Szoka said. “But if that is impossible, we are open to alternatives.”

“If anyone knows a landlord in town who would be favorably inclined to a book store, we are open to speak to them,” Calendrille said.

Szoka said it was possible the business may shift temporarily to an online model and hold its popular readings, art shows, and other events at host sites.

“The community has been incredibly supportive,” Calendrille said. “Not a day goes by that someone comes in and says, ‘We love what you are doing, and we’d love you to stay in Sag Harbor. What can we do?’”

That was the case on Monday as a steady stream of customers entered the store, enticed, perhaps, by the signs announcing a half-price sale on all used books. One woman commented approvingly, “A real book shop,” after Calendrille tracked down the book she wanted.

Another customer stopped by to pick up a copy of “Travels With Charley,” John Steinbeck’s account of his search for America. Before leaving, he had picked up a few more Steinbeck books as well as some other volumes with local ties.

The Express continues to receive letters to the editor lamenting the potential loss of the store, which has been a fixture in the village almost immediately from the day Canio Pavone founded it in 1980. He sold the business to Szoka and Calendrille in 1999, and they set about expanding the shop’s offerings to include Szoka’s photography classes and Calendrille’s writing classes.

They later opened Canio’s Cultural Café, which hosts lectures, workshops, seminars and other forums.

Canio’s can always be counted on to have an exhibit of Szoka’s photographs or the work of some other artist. These days, Szoka is showing photographs on canvas, and paintings by Dennis Snyder and Pamela Collins Focarino are also on display.

One loyal customer, Karyn Feiden, even launched a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for the shop’s imminent move. Donations are being accepted at gofund.me/1cde28fa. As of this week, $7,565 of a $45,000 goal had been raised.