Photo courtesy of FRIENDSHIP BOOKSTORE
Friendship Bookstore owner and manager Theil Kauffman stands in front of the store’s new location in Reedsville.

REEDSVILLE – Their address might have changed a few times over the past half century, but the Friendship Bookstore continues to serve the community with the same faith, hope and love.

After nearly two decades at the Mifflin County Commons in Burnham, the Friendship Bookstore has relocated to 24 S. Main St., Reedsville.

It remains an independently owned and operated family business that offers a wide selection of Christian resources, curriculum, gifts and local interest books.

“It’s a nice, cozy quaint little bookstore here,” said Friendship Bookstore owner and manager Theil Kauffman, who started working part-time at the store in 1971 when it was at 19 S. Brown St., Lewistown. “It’s nice to be in Reedsville.”

The new 1,000-square-foot location is much smaller than their previous store, which measured 4,500 square feet. Kauffman said the new store expects to open on Tuesday.

Friendship Bookstore has been closed since March 30, when employees started making the transition. The space used to house the Stewardship Group insurance offices. Kauffman’s son worked for that company and told his father about the available space.

This is the Friendship Bookstore’s latest address since it opened more than a half century ago. In the early 1960s, Friendship Bookstore began as a quaint country store in the Belleville area called “Das Musikhous.”

Established by Ray and Wilma French, the store moved to Lewistown in 1961 when the Frenchs purchased Cavanaugh Book and Bible Shop on Chestnut Street. Renamed Friendship Bookstore, it went to Market Street then later West Fourth Street. Kauffman became full-time in 1978 and assumed a management role with the store.

He and wife, Andrea, Ray’s niece, purchased the Friendship Bookstore in 1987, while it was still on South Brown Street and hired additional staff. Their children, Larry and Charity, have supported the family business through delivering Sunday school curriculum and working part-time throughout high school and college.

The Friendship Bookstore headed to the Mifflin County Commons in 2004 and remained there for 20 years. Now, they’re on the move again to Reedsville.

The Friendship Bookstore continues to serve individuals and churches in the Mifflin, Juniata, Huntingdon and Centre counties by offering Christian resources, gifts and local interest merchandise.

The Friendship Bookstore still sells a variety of fiction and non-fiction book titles, Bibles, Bible study resources for individuals, small groups and church, contemporary, praise and worship, southern gospel, traditional and choral music, DVDs, gifts, jewelry, greeting cards, children’s books, music and toys, choir gowns, church supplies, Sunday school curriculum, vacation Bible school curriculum and local interest books and merchandise.

“People are always going to read books,” Kauffman explained. “They love the printed page and seeing a bookmark in a book.”

“We’ve really slimmed down in some areas, especially CDs and DVDs, with streaming,” he added. “We wanted to downsize since we’ve gotten a little older.”

The Friendship Bookstore will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The store is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

For more information, call (717) 248-5733, visit www.friendshipbookstore.com or find them on Facebook.