Book Bar, a new business offering books, hot beverages and mocktails, held its grand opening on Dec. 7, releasing its full menu and hosting five local authors for signings.
Owner Brittany Haynes has been working for months to get the store at 50 N. Railroad St. up and running. She manned the counter to take orders and greet customers on Saturday.
She said the community response has been “overwhelming” since the soft openings and the grand opening was even more hectic — in a good way, she noted — because of the full menu.
“We’re always going to be improving and adding things and trying new things, but every time we add a new thing, it just feels like we’re really accomplishing our goals for the place,” Haynes said.
LebTown previously featured the business back in March and covered its first soft opening in October.
The opening process hasn’t been easy, despite the early success. The first espresso machine didn’t work and book orders arrived late right before the opening.
“You run into these obstacles, but honestly, it’s been fun tying to figure it out what to do next,” she said.
Local authors Lonnie Mounts, Rachel Pluck, Tory Gates, K. Iwancio, and Stephanie Julian stopped in throughout the afternoon and evening to sign books and interact with customers.
Haynes said the event was months in the making, and she’s looking to do more author signings and host book clubs in the future.
She said she aims for Book Bar to be a “third space” option people can visit outside of work or home for a sense of community.
“We really just want to have events and have people come in,” she said. “I love when people come in and ask me for a recommendation, because that’s what we give that ordering online doesn’t. I’ll hop out from behind the counter and run over and be like, ‘Let me show you all these books.’”
Customer Tiffany Beck said she’s been following Book Bar’s progress on Facebook since the initial announcements.
She said she liked the decor and appreciated the selection of books available at the locally run shop.
“It looks like it has the genres and types of books that I like,” Beck said. “There are great places to go, but it’s the smaller community feel of the shop that’s one of the best things.”
Book Bar is family-run, sometimes as a one-woman show with Haynes and sometimes with husband Nick Frank helping behind the bar.
Book Bar is open Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The store will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
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