|
|
| Hannah Oliver Depp | |
Hannah Oliver Depp, who for the past two months has been managing partner of Upshur Street Books, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., is buying the store from founder and owner Paul Ruppert, remodeling it and renaming it Loyalty Bookstore, according to Petworth News. Ruppert said, "I see this as a leap forward for the bookstore."
Depp and Ruppert had run a holiday pop-up store in Silver Spring, Md., called Loyalty Bookstore, which closed yesterday. Depp plans to bring the approach she used at the pop-up to Upshur Street Books, which closed a week ago and will reopen next weekend. (She aims to find a permanent space in Silver Spring.)
"We'll focus on children's books, diverse and intersectional fiction and nonfiction, and host book clubs, readings, and work closely with the Petworth Citizen Reading Room to provide more unique programs and build upon their successful literary cocktails," Depp told Petworth News, which added that the new owner "said she wants to offer a more hands-on approach to the interior's layout, moving away from the wall shelves toward more display tables designed to offer a 'please touch' vibe. There will be chairs for customers to spend time reading, and offering book groups a comfortable place to gather and enjoy some wine from the Reading Room while they talk. Also look for a new membership benefits program from the bookstore a few months after they open."
Ruppert, a local entrepreneur who is also the backer of Petworth Citizen, the bar and reading room; Crane & Turtle, a restaurant; and the Warehouse Theatre, a multi-purpose arts complex for theater, music, film and visual arts, opened Upshur Street Books in 2014. A year later, the store was in the national news when on Small Business Saturday 2015, President Obama and his daughters shopped at the store.
Depp has worked at Politics & Prose in Washington and WORD in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Jersey City, N.J. She is a member of the board of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, a founding member of Indies Forward, and a member of the American Booksellers Association's committee on diversity.