Two prominent booksellers in the Northeast are trying to make some seriously good lemonade out of some seriously bad lemons — they’re trying to turn a growing number of abandoned chain bookstores into a network of independent bookstores.

As Judith Rosen explains it in a report for Publishers Weekly, Susan Novotny, longtime owner of the Book House in Albany, NY, and David Didriksen, owner of Willow Books in Acton, MA, have gotten together to form Bookstore Solutions Management (which they apparently call BS Management for short).

According to Rosen,

Working with Wakefield Mall owner Jeff Levy, Novotny and Didriksen will open their first new independent on Saturday, Wakefield Books. It is not only on the site of the 30-year-old Wakefield, R.I., Waldenbooks that closed at the end of January, it also has the same booksellers (including manager Bob Ryan), shelving, and fixtures. But the changes—including new carpeting, paint, counter, and title selection—will transform it into an independent. It already sports an Eat, Sleep, Read poster covering the Walden and Borders Express names. The 2,500 sq. ft. store will also have a large local section because of the tourists drawn to nearby Narragansett Beach and a larger children’s area.

“Wakefield will be among the first communities across the nation where the book phoenix rises from the ashes,” Novotny tells PW. Says Didriksen, “Just because we have new toys on the market doesn’t mean books and bookstores are going to go away. Smaller, community-based bookstores that are run in a business-minded fashion will survive.”