Dog Eared Books, San Francisco, Calif., plans to open a satellite store in May at 489 Castro Street, in the space occupied by A Different Light Books, which closed in 2011. Owner Kate Rosenberger made the announcement on Facebook Wednesday, just a day after news broke that Books Inc. Castro would be closing. Dog Eared is anticipating a gala opening event on June 20.
"The Castro is one of the few neighborhoods in America you can honestly call both trend-setting and uniquely historical," said Rosenberger. "As such it deserves not just a good book shop, but a great book shop. We plan to work very hard to see the Castro gets what it deserves."
Like its 20th and Valencia location, the Castro store will sell new, used and discounted books, along with stationery, posters, cards and maps. On Facebook, the bookseller noted: "As a neighborhood-oriented business, we intend to stock both a wide selection of locally-based writers and LGBTQIA titles, along with classics, best sellers and off-beat books we wish were best sellers. The store will also maintain a full calendar of readings, book groups, release parties, and other adventurous literary events."
Rosenberger told SF Weekly that Dog Eared has no further expansion plans and that rent is "comparable" to what they are paying at the Valencia Street location. "We've been looking for a couple of months--at a couple of different spaces--and then we were lucky enough to get the old Different Light space. Phew! In this day and age!"