By Zoe Perzo
The Islander Bookshop in Kodiak, Alaska, recently expanded from their initial 800 sq ft location into a 3,000 sq ft space in the brand new Kodiak Marketplace. I spoke to The Islander Bookshop’s founder and co-owner, Melissa Haffeman, to hear about the recent expansion and what it's like to own an independent bookstore on an Alaskan island.
By Zoe Perzo
Located in Texas on the military installation Fort Cavazos, Words Unite Bookstore is on a mission to promote independent authors.
I talked to Words Unite owner, Ashley Marie Booker-Knight, to learn more about the store’s origin, operation, and mission.
Loyalty Bookstore, an intersectional store with two locations in the DC area, works to bring diverse books to the community and create an inclusive space for their customers. I talked to co-owners Hannah Oliver Depp (she/they) and Christine Bollow (she/her) to learn more about Loyalty’s origin, motivation, and plans for the future.
After six and a half years of service, Shonesha Evans returned to civilian life and settled in Hinesville, Georgia. The city had no bookstore of its own, and Shonesha found herself repeatedly making the hour-long trip into Savannah to buy books. After lamenting this to her significant other, he popped the question: “Why don’t you open a bookstore?”
Evans told me she had never imagined herself as an entrepreneur.
By Zoe Perzo
In the last few months, Tubby & Coo’s, a New Orleans queer-owned store, has transitioned from a brick-and-mortar location to a traveling book shop. I caught up with owner Candice Huber to learn more about the transition and their plans for the future.
The first thing Huber told me was that they don’t follow a traditional pop-up model. Instead, Huber compared managing Tubby & Coo’s Traveling Book Shop to event management. Each appearance is intentional and designed to replicate the feeling of being in a bookstore.