Around Indies

Virginia’s Bards Alley Cuts the Red Ribbon

Bards Alley in Vienna, Virginia, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony during its grand opening event with Vienna Mayor Laurie DiRocco and other officials on Tuesday, October 3.

The ceremony was covered by the local NBC affiliate TV news station in Washington, D.C., which highlighted the store’s wine pairing events, children’s story times, and author signings.

Bards Alley, an independent bookstore and wine café, is owned by Vienna resident Jen Morrow.

Kew & Willow to Open on Weekends Starting October 7

The Queens Bookshop Initiative, which is opening a new bookstore called Kew & Willow Books on Lefferts Boulevard, will be open for business on weekends starting Saturday, October 7.

The bookstore is the project of three former Barnes & Noble employees who raised $72,360 from 831 backers in a Kickstarter campaign to bring a bookstore to the Kew Gardens area of Queens.

Shoppers were asked for patience by the owners in a recent post on Facebook: “Now, we know what you’re thinking, ‘Weekends? That’s great, but what if I need you during the week?’ Well, we’re getting there. But we think it’s best that we ease into this and get used to our full space AND what the day to day business will look like. As we get our sea legs, so to speak, we’ll soon be able to open during the week as well.”

Phoenix Books Notches 10 Years in Business, Starts Writers’ Scholarship

Vermont’s Phoenix Books is celebrating 10 years in business this month with an array of special events, including a ribbon-cutting and open house at a new location for its Essex store.

Owners Michael DeSanto and Renee Reiner also recently announced that the bookstore will partner with the Vermont College of Fine Arts to award a $10,000 merit-based scholarship to an emerging fiction writer and first-year student in the school’s writing and publishing program. Named the Phoenix Books Howard Frank Mosher Scholarship to honor the late author, the first award will be given in the 2018–2019 school year.

Phoenix Books moved its Essex, Vermont, store.

Phoenix will celebrate its Essex store’s move to 2 Carmichael Street with a ribbon-cutting at 11:00 a.m. on October 20. There will also be an open house with music and light refreshments from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. the next day.

“We believe that local, bricks-and-mortar bookshops offer something very important to a community — a physical place to go to discover and exchange ideas, to have conversations with neighbors, and to gather as community members,” DeSanto said in a statement. “It is part of our mission at Phoenix Books to ensure that local bookshops continue to be a vital part of Vermont’s communities.”

Phoenix Books, which has stores in Essex, Burlington, Rutland, and Chester, as well as a sister store in Woodstock, is also planning special events for the entire month, including costumed character appearances for kids and book talks by local authors for teens and adults.

Florida’s Copperfish Books Celebrates Fifth Birthday

Copperfish Books of Punta Gorda, Florida, is celebrating its fifth year in business. The store marked the occasion on September 30 with 20 percent discounts on regularly priced items, treats for shoppers, such as mimosas, and prize drawings.

Co-owned by Serena Wyckoff and Cathy Graham, Copperfish Books sells new, used, and antique and collectible books, greeting cards, and gifts at its main store as well as a booth at Alley Cat Antiques in Arcadia, Florida.

Gulliver’s Books Moving to New Home

Gulliver’s Books in Fairbanks, Alaska, is in the midst of moving to a new location and plans to reopen for business in mid-October. The store is asking customers to check its website and Facebook for updates. The new location will be smaller and more economically viable, owner Bryan Wiskeman told the Sun Star, a student-run newspaper at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Moon Palace on the Move

Moon Palace Books of Minneapolis is planning a move to a bigger location that allows events, according to a report in Minneapolis City Pages. Owner Jamie Schwesnedl told the paper that he and his wife, co-owner Angela, are excited to include a restaurant-bar combination along with the bookstore in the new location. Moon Palace’s current location is between a coffee shop and a cinema. An opening date of late October or early November is planned for the new bookstore, with the restaurant coming later in the fall.

Bookstores in New York’s Wine Country Create Regional Bookshop Tour

Thirteen participating bookstores in Upstate New York’s wine country have come together to launch Fall Into Books! A Bookshop Tour, a month-long event in October that offers booklovers a chance to win prizes and earn discounts at the bookstores.

To participate in the tour, customers are asked to either print a passport at home or pick one up at the first store they visit. Shoppers with a passport will receive 10 percent off their purchases, and the stores will put stamps or stickers on the passport at each stop. Customers will leave their passports at the last shop they visit no later than October 31, 2017.

In November, the participating booksellers will pick winners for two gift baskets filled with books, gift certificates, and gift items. The more stores a customer visits, the more times his or her name will be entered in the drawing.

The participating stores are: Books, Etc., Macedon; Explore! The Bookstore, Clifton Springs; Greenwood Books, Rochester; Lift Bridge Book Shop, Brockport; Mood Makers, Rochester; Paperback Place, Canandaigua; Small World Books, Rochester; Stomping Grounds, Geneva; The Book Centre, Spencerport; The Books Landing, Penn Yan; The Dog Eared Book, Palmyra; Village Bookmarket, Palmyra; and Yesterday’s Muse, Webster.

Oregon’s Governor Visits Waucoma Books in Wake of Wildfire

Oregon Governor Kate Brown visited Waucoma Bookstore in Hood River, Oregon, on September 29 as part of a tour of local businesses hurt by a wildfire in the Columbia River Gorge. A Facebook Live video shows owner Muir Cohen helping Brown select her next read.

Waucoma Books owners Muir Cohen and Jenny Cohen and son KJ meet with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. (Photo by Oregon Public Broadcasting)

The Eagle Creek Fire, which has burned more than 48,000 acres since it began September 2, won’t be fully contained until the end of November, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting’s report on the governor’s tour. Businesses in the region have experienced a 40 to 70 percent decline in sales, according to the report.

“We had local customers coming in to try and help out and shop, but it was tough walking out there with all that smoke,” Cohen told Oregon Public Broadcasting.