Decatur book stores make ‘historic’ moves
March 3rd, 2008 by David Lee Simmons in Books, NewsAfter opening its store last June, Decatur’s Wordsmiths Books is making a bold move: to the downtown square. Wordsmiths currently is located at 141 E. Trinity Place, but plans to relocate closer to the action at 545 N. McDonough St., taking over the old SunTrust building. Wordsmiths owner Zachary Steele told customers on the store’s blog the timing was right for the move.
It seems rather sudden, and, truthfully, it is. The fact is that the building we’ve been in, on E. Trinity Place, has sold, which actually comes out as a nice stroke of luck, as it enables us to relocate to front-and-center on the Decatur Square, where Wordsmiths Books was meant to be all along. … Only a bit more than a block from where we now reside, our new space will sit firmly on the Square of Downtown Decatur and will offer us all the space and room for growth that we will need into the far-reaching future. Additionally, we’re nothing shy of a few paces from the very lawn that hosts the Decatur Arts Festival, The [AJC] Decatur Book Festival, the Beach Party, The Wine Fest, Movies on The Square and a host of many other festive activities that take place on the Square throughout the year.
Wordsmiths spokesman Russ Marshalek says the new space is comparable to the old one, but also will draw more “foot traffic” on the square. The store will close March 25 and reopen in the new location March 28. There are plans for a moving party on the night of March 24, with a second BabyGotBooks.com reading series event, an appearance by Mudbound author Hillary Jordan and live music from the Wayne Fishell Experiment and Hope for Agoldensummer.
The square already is home to Little Shop of Stories, which soon after Wordsmiths’ move plans to relocate from 515 N. McDonough St. to a larger space on the other side of the square (133 E. Court Square), next to Starbucks and Vivid Boutique (according to its February newsletter). This avoids the dilemma of the two stores being practically next-door neighbors.
Nearby downtown Decatur bookstores include Books Again and Indie Coffee and Books.
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