Around Indies

Literati Bookstore Opens

On Monday, Literati Bookstore quietly opened its doors to the downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, community. Deciding where to place each section was a challenge for owners Hilary Lowe and Mike Gustafson, but they expect the store to evolve after receiving customer feedback.

“We left room in our inventory to grow with what our customers’ needs and wants are,” Gustafson told AnnArbor.com. The store has a “suggestion list” for people to write down their favorite titles. “We have a lot of what we love and what our employees really like,” Lowe said. “Now we have a chance to really interact with the community and see what they’re interested in.”

Changing Hands to Open Second Store

Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, has announced plans to open a second location sometime in early November in Phoenix. The bookstore will be a part of The Newton, a mixed-use community space, housing two other local businesses: the restaurant group behind the award-winning Beckett’s Table, and three women who are creating The Lively Hood, a co-working, meeting, and event space for mobile professionals.

“We believe communities need independent bookstores, now more than ever,” co-owner Gale Shanks posted on the store’s website. “We all need places where we can meet, greet, laugh, play, relax, think, communicate, celebrate the arts, bring our children, connect with the great authors of the past, and discover new voices with their own unique visions to share.”

Updates will be posted to the store’s website and Facebook.

Signs of Life Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Signs of Life, a bookstore, art gallery, and espresso bar in Lawrence, Kansas, recently marked its 10^th year in business. The bookstore celebrated by serving free coffee all day on March 27, as a way to thank customers.

The store’s website read: “We’ve come a long way in the decade since Signs of Life started.  And you, our customers, have made it all worthwhile!”

Spellbound Launches Crowdfunding Campaign

Spellbound Children’s Bookshop in Asheville, North Carolina, has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to fund a planned move and expansion. The campaign began on Tuesday and runs through May 15, with a funding goal of $18,500 to cover costs associated with moving the bookstore into a larger space.

Specific information about the budget for funds raised and the perks offered to contributors is outlined on Spellbound’s campaign page.

Special Occasions Reopens

After a two year absence, Ed McCarter and his wife, Miriam, have reopened Special Occasions Bookstore in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. McCarter is adding used and out-of-print books to the store, which will continue to specialize in books and merchandise geared toward the black community.

“I just needed something to do,” McCarter told the Winston Salem Journal. “Finally, I just decided I would open back up and do what I’ve been doing.”