Dianne and Kevin Germain say they’ve long been avid readers, book lovers who enjoy discussing the ideas and themes advanced by a variety of writers from different fields.

In 2019, the Germains decided to take their literary interests a little further: They started an online business, Splendor Solis Books, selling used and new books with a particular focus on topics such as spirituality, the occult, esoterica “and anything else we feel relates to those endeavors,” as they note on their website.

But now the Easthampton couple have opened a brick and mortar store of the same name — Splendor Solis means “Splendor of the Sun” — on the site of a former long-time used book store in Northampton.

The Germains have taken over the Market Street location of Gabriel Books, just a few strides from Bridge Street near the railroad overpass. They’ve also inherited most of the stock from Gabriel Books and are adding their inventory to the cozy locale, which Kevin Germain figures can hold 25,000 to 30,000 volumes.

“It’s such a thrill to have an actual store,” said Dianne. “We’ve mostly been interacting with customers online and over the phone, and now we have the opportunity to meet a lot more people in person.

“In our 20s we used to think, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to run a bookstore?’ ” she added. “We used to come out here from (our former home in) Cambridge and go to Haymarket (Cafe) and say ‘Northampton would be a great town to have a bookstore.’ And now we’re doing it.”

The couple have worked in the health industry for some time, Kevin as an x-ray technician — he’s with the University of Massachusetts Amherst health services — and Dianne as an LPN with Valley Medical Group. But several years ago, Kevin said he began selling used books on the side via eBay and enjoyed the experience.

“I thought, ‘I think this is something we could do,’ ” he said. “This could be a business model.”

Both come from literary backgrounds. Dianne studied publishing and writing at Emerson College in Boston and worked briefly in journalism before moving into graphic arts. Kevin’s been writing poetry for years — ‘That comes from being a bit of a nerd in school, though the girls liked it,” he said with a laugh – and he also writes music and worked in graphic arts for a stretch.

They lived in a couple different places in Boston and then in Medford before moving to the Valley in 1999.

Their experience selling books on eBay prompted them to start Splendor Solis Books as an online business in 2019, building largely off the library they’d created at home; the effort then picked up steam in 2020 when the pandemic hit, Dianne says.

“We started hearing from a lot of different people through social media in particular,” she noted.

Their interest in spirituality and other subjects comes from their belief in the connections one can form between spirituality, research and science.

As they write on their website, “Most of our selection is intuitively driven by a desire to know existence in all its expressions. We believe a deeply spiritual individual is a curious individual with a desire to seek truth in all its forms — with all its messy and edifying beauty.”

Finding a home

When the worst of the pandemic passed, the Germains also sold books in outdoor conventions, setting up stalls in Boston, Connecticut and a few other places, including on Strong Avenue in Northampton this past summer, notably when the road was closed to traffic and opened for outdoor dining and music.

That in-person experience had them thinking about opening a permanent shop — plus, says Kevin, “Our books were starting to take over our house.”

Then last fall, they heard that Patty Riley, co-owner of Gabriel Books, was looking to sell the business. She and her late husband, John B. Riley, opened the business in 1993, but John had passed away in 2021, and Dianne says Patty Riley seemed ready to move on.

“When we spoke to Patty, she said ‘I’m so glad you’re book people,’ ” said Dianne.

In a recent phone call, Patty Riley said she’d been determined to sell Gabriel Books to another bookseller and had turned down potential buyers who were looking to use the Market Street space for something else.

“I think it’s important that Northampton is a place where people can come for old books,” she said. “I for one don’t want to live in a world without books.”

She and her husband had previously started and owned a bookshop on Pleasant Street, the Globe Bookstore, and her husband co-founded the Iron Horse Music Hall with former owner Jordi Herold.

Riley said she’s pleased to have the Germains take over the Market Street space, to which she’ll also be adding a variety of books on food that are currently stored in her house.

Meantime, said Dianne Germain, “We’re really happy to carry (Gabriel Books’) legacy forward.”

Splendor Solis Books also sells titles in subjects such as mathematics, Sufism, music and myth. As they’ve inherited the stock of Gabriel Books, a general interest bookstore, they also carry fiction, poetry, history, philosophy and numerous other topics.

Splendor Solis will continue to sell books online, and the Germains also carry new titles in subjects such as esoterica, including from two European specialty publishers.

Visit splendorsolisbooks.com for more information.

Steve Pfarrer can be reached at spfarrer@gazettenet.com.

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