Independent publisher the Head & the Hand in Philadelphia "has signed a lease to open its own storefront on the Frankford Avenue corridor in Kensington," Billy Penn reported. A soft opening is planned for May 3. During a preview event Wednesday night, the press invited "friends and neighbors to their cozy storefront within Fireball Printing's new facility, where newly built wooden shelves will soon be stocked with contemporary fiction, children's books and other genres."
Editorial director Linda Gallant Moore said the bookshop will be grounded in community programming: "There are successful bookstores that are 'books and'. Sometimes it's a coffee shop, sometimes it's community minded. They're all about inviting the neighborhood in.”
In addition to "plenty of fiction, with an emphasis on local and small presses," the Head & the Hand bookshop will stock "children's books galore, and a smattering of true crime, poetry and Philly history," Billy Penn wrote, adding: "The store will also serve as a space for the press' core mission of publishing local authors and providing writers workshops. It helps that their printer, Fireball, is now also their landlord and neighbor."
"It's funny how bookstores spark conversations," Gallant Moore said. "People came forward to offer they'd come read to kids for storytime. These are the things you can't expect or predict, but you hope for."
She also noted that Head & the Hand hopes the nearby food co-op will draw traffic to the bookstore, and a 15% discount on bookstore merchandise for co-op members has already been worked out.
"The hope is that the bookstore functions as a way to bring in a different revenue stream to keep the press going and to serve the neighborhood," she said. "We're going to have books, but we're going to have programming that the neighborhood will really like."
Like the press, the bookstore will continue to operate as a non-profit under the fiscal umbrella of the Culture Trust of Greater Philadelphia. The proprietors "consider their 8-month lease in the space a wait-and-see period," Billy Penn reported.