Rickaro bookshop to stay open after being taken over by new owner

Rickaro Books in Horbury had been trading for 19 years when owners Richard and Carole Knowles decided to call time on the shop and focus on their online trading.

But Richard told the Express he would like to hand over the reins of the business and hoped it would remain a bookshop.

Since then “three serious people” had enquired about taking the venture on.

Carole and Richard opted for Asher Woolford who previously worked at the shop.

Richard said: “We’re all very happy. After the piece in the Express a lot of people got in touch about it.

“We are very pleased that the legacy of bookshop is able to live on and people in the town have been universally delighted that it will remain.

“We had at least three serious people who wanted it after the story in the paper.

“Asher did a really good job when she worked here and knows the business as well as I do.” March 23 will be the last day of trading as Rickaro.

It will then close for a refurbishment and changes the new owner would like to make before reopening under a new name.

Richard and Carole will continue to run the online part of their business under the Rickaro name.

Speaking to the Express in January after announcing the shop would close, Richard said: “I would be willing to act as a mentor for anyone who wanted to be a bookseller.

“We would love to see it continue as a bookshop and we’d do anything we could to further that.” He said the business had always been profitable but trading conditions had become more difficult in recent years.

Richard and Carole decided the right time to move on from the high street aspect of the business was after Christmas. 2019.