Why, what, when?

So I figure now is a good time to explain some of the details of our move. We get asked a lot of questions by our curious customers. So let me list some questions and give you some answers:

1.What? Are you moving? yes, yes! Our lease will be up in April. We'll be at our current location until March 31. Then we will pack like mad, shrink wrapping (yes, it's true!) our books to the shelves and will move on April 4. Then we'll take about a week to unpack and look livable. Our aim is to reopen on Friday, April 10.

2. But why? I like where you are now! This space has been good to us, but the new one has a lot of great things going for it. We will have about 400 more sq. ft. of space, which we can use to have space for book groups, author events, etc. We'd really like to be a community meeting place. We will have parking that we share with Tuesday Morning, and a space in the back alley to unload books- there will be a back door that you can go through to get to the trade counter. The firehouse is a very cool, historic building that will help us maintain our character as your funky local bookstore. And don't forget, Silver Grill, La Luz, and Rasta Pasta will be just down the block if you get hungry. I personally anticipate a couple of pound weight gain from our move.

3. Cool! Can I help? We don't want to drop any shelves on our lovely customers, so will not need help moving in. However, we are setting up a list for people to sign up on if they want to help with final shelving and organization.

I've got a couple pictures of the empty store up on top. We are tearing out parts of the wall to make a door into the very back of the store. The first two rooms in the store will be cement and the last room will have a tile floor (it used to be a machine workshop, I believe). The back room is where we'll have a seating area, as well as books.

4. Will you have coffee? We won't. We'd love to have a coffee or tea shop next door. Right now, though, we feel like we're just starting to get this bookselling going. Starting a new business right now (and doing a coffee shop would be starting a new business) would just stretch us too thin. Other bookstores that we've talked to say that coffee in bookstores tends to work best as a separate business, with a separate manager/owner, unless the bookstore owner has expertise in food service. If you know anyone who wants to start a business next door to us, send them our way!