The relocation of Easton’s Books to the old Hugo Helmer music store was good news for the downtown Mount Vernon business community, as well as for avid readers.

Diana and David Cornelius have shown their commitment to their business and to the city over the more than three decades they have owned and operated Easton’s.

The move was necessitated by the future demolition of the building that housed their previous location on Main Street.

It is right that the building that Hugo Helmer music store grew out of provides plenty of space for Easton’s to grown into. The city’s biggest used bookstore will have a chance to get bigger, with 4,000 square feet of space.

The Corneliuses first started their business in a 500-square-foot shop in west Mount Vernon 32 years ago.

They are just what the old music store space needed — a quality tenant with a business that has built up a clientele that will seek it out wherever it locates.

The century-old building occupies an anchoring spot on First Street, the backbone of downtown Mount Vernon. It’s proximity to Pine Street Plaza, where county employees and office workers often take their lunch, is ideal.

The bookstore also seems a compatible neighbor to the historic Lincoln Theatre, many patrons of which are already steady customers.

Downtown Mount Vernon’s most successful businesses have carved specialty niches for themselves. They draw customers because of what they are, not necessarily where they are.

These stores reflect the unique personalities and hard work of owners who, for the most part, are present and serving customers every day.

The “old towns” of our cities speak to our need to connect with the past and our longing for a sense of permanence about our surroundings.

First Street in Mount Vernon, Fairhaven Avenue in Burlington, North Commercial Avenue in Anacortes, Metcalf Street in Sedro-Woolley and First Street in La Conner all give clues to the once-upon-a-time gleam in their founders’ eyes.

Mount Vernon’s efforts to revitalize its downtown are important to all who value the impact of the city’s unique identity, its insistence on charting its own course on flood control notwithstanding.

Hugo Helmer’s move to its new Burlington digs was more an affirmation of its success than a setback for downtown Mount Vernon. It simply outgrew its space.

Easton’s move to the old music store was a logical step that enhanced its own prospects for the future. We wish the book vendors well in their new digs.

• Editorials reflect the consensus opinion of the editorial board and are written by its members: Publisher L. Stedem Wood, Editor Don Nelson and City Editor Dick Clever.