Hannah Willmott started her dream job yesterday. As part owner and new manager of the Bermuda Bookstore, the Island's oldest purveyor of all things literary, Mrs. Willmott brings the same enthusiasm to the store as the late Jim Zuill who ran the store for several decades but died in 2000.

A born Bermudian who attended Harrington Sound, BHS and Bermuda College, Mrs. Willmott said she intends to make the store a fun place to be and to get the books Bermudians want.

Speaking with The Royal Gazette hours into her first day selling books from the store, Mrs. Willmott said: "We actually made some sales which was a good start."

A fresh new start is how Mrs. Willmott explained the new impetus for running the store which has been managed by Jim Zuill's son Robert since his death.

And although two employees were laid off when new management took over, Mrs. Willmott explained that one was due to retire in February and both had been given "golden handshakes," on their departure.

The path leading to the Bermuda Bookstore was somewhat a rocky road for Mrs. Willmott who was herself sacked from Tycom in February when the company axed a quater of the local workforce.

However, part of the severance package was money for training, which Mrs. Willmott used to attend the American Booksellers Association Conference in New York in May as there was a chance that the bookstore may be sold and she may be hired as manager. At the conference she learned the basics of selling books, as well as issues such as inventory. However, the bookstore sale was not immediate, and she went to work for Endurance, a local insurance company formed after September 11.

Shortly afterwards, however, a deal was struck between Mr. Zuill and partner in Washington Mall Magazines, Nathaniel Butterfield.

Washington Mall Magazines are now the majority owners of the store although the finer details of the plan are yet to be worked out.

Nathaniel Butterfield was part owner of the Bermuda Bookstore before increasing his stake. He said he remembered buying books there as a child and said of his new role with the store: "It's been a dream of mine for a long time."

Mr. Butterfield said he had spoken with Jim Zuill about selling the store before he died, but Mr. Zuill was passionate about the store and didn't want to give it up.

However, Mr. Butterfield said he was very pleased to now have the opportunity to have greater involvement with the store and heaped praises on his new partner, Mrs. Willmott, who he said "made the deal worthwhile."

He also said: "I am delighted to be underway and I hope my friends the Zuills are happy."

On running the store, Mrs. Willmott said: "It was the opportunity of a lifetime," and she also said the location and name were more than anyone could ask for when setting up a bookstore.

She also has big plans for the little store which is being limited to the downstairs of the 200-year-old building with the upper floor now being offered for rent.

Mrs. Willmott hopes to inject some character and spirit into the store and says she is still trying to figure out exactly what customers want, and give it to them.

She also hopes to make it easy to make special orders for customers and said: "Why navigate the Amazon when you can Buy Bermuda!"

Although she was not exactly sure what Bermudians wanted to read, Mrs. Willmott conducted a small survey before opening the store and many people who responded indicated that they wanted enthusiastic sales people who knew about books and could make recommendations.

The store currently stocks nearly all books written about Bermuda or by Bermudians as well as fiction, health, spiritual and children's books.

However, with a background in hospitality management, Mrs. Willmott said: "Listening to the customer is key," and so she will be adding to the selection as customers demand.

She is also forming relationships with an organisation of independent booksellers in the US which she said was just one thing on a list a mile long that she had to do.

Although the Bermuda Bookstore building has been slated to be torn down and replaced with a modern building, Mrs. Willmott said the landlords had assured her that this would not be done for at least the next couple of years, but it was a possibility.

Mrs. Willmott said she had always enjoyed going to the store and recalled one occasion several years ago when she was with her son who was making a fuss. Jim Zuill simply leaned over and told her son: "Don't worry, the first 40 years are the hardest."

She said she instantly took a liking to Mr. Zuill, but probably never realised she would be one day running his store.