New Year, New Ventures: Three Bookstores to Open Branches in 2015

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

Three communities will be welcoming indie booksellers next year as Third Place Books, HugoBooks, and Anderson’s Bookshops each make plans to open an additional branch store.

Third Place Books, with stores in Ravenna and Lake Forest Park, Washington, is planning to open its third location by the end of 2015 in Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood, The Stranger reported.

Owner Ron Sher and managing partner Robert Sindelar spent a year and a half searching for the right spot for their new venture and found it at 5041 Wilson Avenue S. in southern Seattle. The bookstore will take over the land and building currently occupied by a natural market. “As the density rises on the South End, I think people are looking for more and more things they can do without leaving their neighborhoods,” said Sindelar.

The 7,200-square-foot space will resemble Third Place’s Ravenna location, with half housing the bookstore and the remaining part offering an events space, a full-service restaurant, and possibly a pub. In the bookstore, customers can expect an inventory of new and used titles, as well as an active events calendar. The restaurant will be a partnership similar to the Ravenna location’s work with the restaurant Vios.

Massachusetts’ HugoBooks will open its fourth store next year, Wicked Local Newburyport reported. Cabot Street Books & Cards is scheduled to open in June 2015 at 272 Cabot St. in Beverly, joining The Book Rack in Newburyport, Andover Bookstore in Andover, and The Spirit of ’76 Bookstore in Marblehead.

Earlier this year, HugoBooks was awarded funding through the Retail Incentives Grant Program created by the Board of Directors of Beverly Main Streets to entice retailers to establish stores in the downtown area.

Following renovations, the 1,200-square-foot Cabot Street store will be joined by an interior doorway to an Atomic Café, which is set to open in February. This will be Hugobooks’ second association with the popular, local coffee shop. In Newburyport, The Book Rack has found success with its physical link to its neighboring Atomic Café location.

“Everybody loves an indie bookstore,” John Hugo, who owns the stores with his father, Robert, told the newspaper. “Our new Cabot Street location, next to Atomic Café and in the heart of the Beverly Arts District, is perfect for us. Lots of our customers love having the option of browsing and buying books and then getting a cup of coffee next door and diving right into their new book. We’re excited to be coming to downtown Beverly and we’re thrilled that Beverly Main Streets is helping to make it happen.”

In Illinois, Anderson’s Bookshops plans to grow this April, the Chicago Tribune reported. The former PNC Bank in La Grange, a 6,500-square-foot space, will become a new outpost for the family-run business, whose other bookstores are in Naperville and Downers Grove.  The only bookstore in La Grange, a Borders, closed in September 2011.

“It’s the perfect place with a vibrant, established downtown area with lots of independent businesses and a wonderful business alliance that does all sorts of great events,” said co-owner Becky Anderson.

The new store will be similar to other Anderson’s locations in that it will offer an inventory curated for the neighborhood it serves, a full calendar of book signings and events, and strong relationships with local nonprofits and charities.

“One of our key reasons for success is we have the most fabulous employees, people who love reading, and they share that passion for it,” Anderson told the Tribune. “People come here and they get that personal service and the help to find the perfect book, toy, or gift.”