Congratulations to Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, N.Y., which is turning 10 years old next month.
Co-owners Rebecca Fitting and Jessica Stockton Bagnulo are getting the celebrations started early, with a repainting and "birthday spruce-up" scheduled for September and a new line of branded, anniversary-themed merchandise that they'll start unveiling this month.
Throughout September and October, Greenlight will co-host events at Kings Theatre and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and on October 10 the store will host an in-store revue called "#10YearsOfGreenlight: Celebrating Creative Community in Brooklyn." Three guest hosts, including flimmaker Nelson George, poet Angel Nafis and Brooklyn Book Festival co-founder Johnny Temple will talk about the store and its surrounding community, while special guest authors such as Marlon James will also make appearances.
And on October 19, Greenlight is throwing its official anniversary party. The flagship store in Greenlight will be running a 20% off sale all day, and in the evening there will be drinks, refreshments, a live DJ, giveaways and more.
Greenlight Bookstore sold its first book on October 16, 2009, while the storefront was still under construction. The official launch party took place on October 24, and in the decade since the store now has two locations, a gift-focused sister store, kiosks and pop-ups throughout Brooklyn, and a staff that has grown from seven people to almost 50.