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Dean and Edie Swift have opened Swift Books, a general bookstore, in the 2,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Waldenbooks.

“We were going through the mall in January and saw the store was closing,” Dean Swift said. “We just saw there is no other bookstore in our area. There is a good market situation here.”

Waldenbooks closed its doors Jan. 24 as a part of a companywide initiative to close under-performing stores.

Swift Books will house 15,000 to 20,000 new titles, including fiction and nonfiction as well as an expanded children’s books section. Swift Books will also have a warehouse with about 1 million titles available for 2 day delivery.

Dean previously worked as a plant manager at Orangeburg’s Ecka Granules of America LLC and Edie has managed Books-a-Million and Bookland bookstores in Somerset, Ky. The bookstore is the couple’s first significant business venture.

The Swifts expect to have five employees at the store, including their son, Gary, who will work there part-time.