Sierra Madre Books To Close as Owners Look Toward Greener Pastures

Just four years after opening for business, the owners of are cashing in their chips and closing up their shop on the south side of Sierra Madre Boulevard.

While it's no secret that the printed book publishing and selling business has been struggling for quite some time, Jeff Ingwalson, who owns the shop with his wife Sally Morrison, said the decision to close the store was based less on the decline of the book business, and more on the continued growth of Sally's after-school tutoring business.

“It isn't so much that we're giving up on the book business,” Ingwalson told Patch as passers-by filed in and out of the store, brought in by the signs announcing the store's closing and the 30 percent discount offered along with it. “It's more that Sally's tutoring business is going so well and we're going to focus our efforts on what's working.”

So, with the lease on their retail space ending in June, Jeff and Sally are selling the hardcovers, paperbacks, postcards and even the bookshelves and tables as they set their sites on expanding and maintaining Sally's tutoring business here in Sierra Madre.

“We've rented some office space just down the street that will work perfectly for Sally's tutoring,” Ingwalson said.

This will be the third incarnation of Sally's tutoring business in as many years, always in an onward and upward motion. In 2009, she started “Blue Sky Tutoring” out of the couple's Sierra Madre home. Then, in November of 2010, the educator, who holds a B.A. in Linguistics and a Master's degree in Education Leadership and Administration,

Now, with business booming, Sally is again renaming the business as she opens the next chapter of her education services offered right here in Sierra Madre. In a press release (a copy of which is attached to this article), Morrison announces the opening of “Mindspring Education Center,” offering one-on-one instruction for all ages in areas such as reading, writing, math, spelling, comprehension, study skills and test preparation. What’s more, Sally specializes in helping out students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities, according to the release.

Mindspring Education Center will offer all these services out of their new office at 37 Auburn Ave., Suite 7A, Sierra Madre. But interested students and parent should move fast if they’re interested in upcoming summer sessions, which Morrison says are filing up fast. Reservations for those dwindling number of spots can be made by contacting Mindspring directly at (626) 355-1972, and more information is available on the new company’s website.

Morrison, who was unavailable to comment as she was in the midst of a tutoring session, did offer some words in the printed announcement.

“We appreciate all the support we’ve received from our customers of the past few years, but are excited about our new venture,” Morrison said in the statement. “We look forward to continuing to be a part of this community.”