Books Are Magic is Coming by Shyda Hoque
Mar 31, 2017 boerum hill,book store,BookCourt,books are magic,brooklyn shopping,carroll gardens,cobble hill,independent book shops,shopping,shyda hoque
Smith Street has been a bit of a ghost town lately if you walk past Bergen. Many retail spaces sit empty and it has been painful for locals who used to see commercial spaces thrive on this famed street. There are only so many banks, big retail shops and chain drug stores one can stroll by. This is not a rant about how high commercial rents are on Smith. Those you can find in abundance on the web. I did find Juliet Izon’s article last January for The Commercial Observer helpful after trying to understand what is happening to local businesses on Smith.
A few weeks ago, after walking by the closed shops, I saw a beacon of light on the corner of Baltic and Smith in the form of a sign reading “Books Are Magic” and a store under construction. When both Bookcourt and The Community Bookstore closed shop last year, as both owners of the bookshops sold their buildings, they left a huge void in the community of Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. That is why novelist Emma Straub and her graphic designer husband Michael Fusco are opening their new bookstore, “Books Are Magic“! Straub believes, “ a neighborhood without an independent bookstore is a body without a heart. And so we’re building a new heart.” Our community is glad they are building one. We will keep you posted as their opening date comes near. We are excited it will be so close to our office at 296 Smith street!
May Books Are Magic bring magic back to the independent spirit of businesses thriving on Smith Street! Read more here!