Around Indies

Politics & Prose to Open Satellites at Busboys and Poets

Politics & Prose Bookstore will open five satellite locations in Busboys and Poets restaurants in the Washington, D.C., area, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

P&P will stock and manage retail book sections in all but one of the current and planned Busboys and Poets locations, owned by entrepreneur-artist-activist Anas “Andy” Shallal.

The satellite stores will be staffed by P&P employees and customers will be able to get quick deliveries from the main store on Connecticut Avenue, place special orders, and enjoy all their usual P&P membership discounts, the paper noted. Stock at each will be curated to reflect the interests of the local community.

The arrangement with P&P co-owners Lissa Muscatine and Bradley Graham will allow Shallal’s restaurants to offer more books and a broader range of events.

“This was a great opportunity that doesn’t include a huge amount of risk on their part and has an upside for us,” Shallal said.

The partnership will begin at the new Busboys and Poets set to open next month in Northeast Washington’s Brookland neighborhood. The nonprofit group Teaching for Change will continue to operate the bookstore in Busboys and Poets at 14th and V streets NW.

“Our goal is to make these really wonderful, thoughtful, intentional book spaces,” Muscatine said, “with a focus connected to that community.”

Upshur Street Books Opens in D.C.

Upshur Street Books opened in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., last Saturday, November 1. Located on one floor of what used to be a hair salon, the store, owned by local restaurateur Paul Ruppert, is about an eight-minute walk north from the Georgia Avenue Metro stop on the Green and Yellow lines, the GW Hatchet reported.

Browsing is encouraged by a large front window that allows light to stream inside, light wood floors and bright green walls, and contoured bookshelves, whose bottom three shelves gradually tilt out for easy reading of book spines.

“This is a bookstore for the locals: It has the feel of a highly-organized home bookshelf in the best possible way,” the Hatchet said. “The selections feel familiar, like the books you’ve always seen sitting on your parent’s shelves, though all the copies are brand new. Meanwhile, the open space around the shelves and tables makes the store feel like home — not overbearing, not crowded.”

Short Stories Community Hub Opens in New Jersey

When Madison, New Jersey’s Sages Pages closed in January following a flood, Barb Short decided to fill the gap left by the closure. With a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $18,000, Short began work on Short Stories Community Hub on the town’s Main Street, the Daily Record reported.

“I just had one of those moments where I thought about what was most important to me,” said Short, who previously worked in publishing at Duke University Press. “This bookstore has become my third child and I want others in the community to see it as their space too.”

Short welcomes artists and musicians to perform at the bookstore and is willing to rent out the space, which is decorated with whimsical paintings in bright colors, for birthday parties, memorials, readings, or a coffee house night. A room in the back is available to patrons for tutoring sessions or small study groups. “I have a real weakness for brilliant writers and we want to cultivate that,” Short said. “We want to take the stigma out of learning and provide a unique place to do that.”

Short Stories Community Book Hub will be celebrating a pre-grand opening from November 6 to 9 with music, artwork, readings, and book signings.

Penguin Bookshop Turns 85

Penguin Bookshop in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, celebrated its 85th birthday on October 29 with balloons, cupcakes, penguins wearing birthday hats, and a champagne toast.

Since its founding in 1929, the store has had six owners and been located in four different storefronts in the village of Sewickley, just 12 miles downriver from Pittsburgh. Penguin’s current owner, Susan O’Connor, reopened the bookstore in February 2014 after moving it to a newly renovated space just across the street from its former location.

“The Penguin has been kept alive through the loyalty of its customers and the passion of its booksellers,” Kate Madison, the store’s social media and marketing coordinator, said in an e-mail. “It remains one of the community’s greatest treasures.”

Anderson’s Bookshops Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Anderson’s Bookshops, whose history in Naperville, Illinois, dates back nearly 140 years, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week.

The store, which is co-owned by former ABA President Becky Anderson, is a sixth-generation family bookstore that traces its roots back to the founding of W.W. Wickel Pharmacy (now Oswald’s Pharmacy), which sold books and other items. In 1964, the bookstore was launched as a separate business.

Anniversary celebrations begin Thursday, November 6, and culminate in a public party on Sunday evening, November 9. Throughout the weekend, shoppers will receive discounts (25 percent off for Anderson’s members and 10 percent off for non-members), and purchases of more than $100 will qualify for a free commemorative tote bag. Raffle prizes, donated by some of the store’s biggest book and toy vendors, will be drawn daily. There will also be treats and balloons each day.

Watermark Books Sports New Outdoor Mural

Earth, a mural by artist Thomas Murillo, was unveiled last Saturday at Watermark Books & Café in Wichita, Kansas. The artwork is the fourth in a series of murals commissioned for the Douglas Design District with funds provided by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission through the Kansas Department of Commerce.

The mural is “a layered, vibrantly colored piece featuring mountains, forests, glaciers, and plant life,” said the Wichita Eagle.