After a long wait, WORD's Jersey City, N.J., store opened this weekend in time for the last part of the holiday season. Despite heavy snow on Saturday and frigid temperatures on Sunday, the store was packed with customers, according to co-owner Christine Onorati.
Although it's only been a couple of days, Onorati believes that her customer base in Jersey City is wider than the customer base of the original WORD store in Greenpoint, in Brooklyn, N.Y. The new store has sold a little bit of everything, including toys, games, gifts for children, a range of fiction and nonfiction titles, graphic novels, board games, art books and stationery. The biggest surprise of opening weekend came on day one, when the store sold out of its entire stock of Humans of New York.
Although the shop is open for business, the cafe won't be up and running for a few weeks. The new store is approximately 2,400 square feet -- roughly four times the size of the Greenpoint location--and will be able to hold up to 250 people for standing-room-only events.
The building--a former Burger King--required practically total renovation before it could function as both a bookstore and cafe. Onorati's contractors had to pour a new concrete floor, completely revamp the electrical, heating and plumbing systems, and remodel the ceiling.
"It's been a long slog, but we're almost there," said Onorati, who expects the store's grand opening to be some time in January. She's hard at work planning that celebration, and scheduling other events for the new year. Among the first high-profile events will be a visit from actor B.J. Novak in February. "I couldn't be more excited," she said. --Alex Mutter