Black Rock Books will have a soft opening on June 10 at 3030 Fairfield Ave. in Bridgeport, Conn. The Connecticut Post reported that co-owners Emily Welch and Meagan Flynn "are working to open up a new chapter for their community." Their main focus is making sure the soft opening is successful before finalizing plans for a full launch.
Flynn, who previously worked at Breakwater Books in Guilford, had talked about creating her own bookstore for years. Last Christmas, Flynn's brother-in-law gave her a tote bag with a logo for an imaginary store, "Black Rock Books." When Flynn showed it to Welch, a partnership was hatched.
"Emily was like, 'You keep talking about this, when are you going to do it?' She was the one who said 'OK, when? OK, where? OK, how?' " Flynn said. "It feels special because Emily was one of the first people that I met when I moved to the neighborhood."
While the soft opening focuses on used books, the business will stock new books in the future, and may also offer monthly subscriptions and delivery services, depending on interest. The business plans to offer family-friendly events like book clubs, author speaking engagements and storytime hours. The owners noted that the bookstore is a good fit for Black Rock, helping fill a need for more local family-friendly spaces.
"It's something that this community really needs and I have no doubt in my mind that they will support and welcome our store with open arms," Welch said. "It's not about making money so to speak... this is about getting the community together even more and reaching people.... There are a million things that have to get done before then. We are just hoping by June 10 we will have the walls painted, the shelves will be on the walls and we will have the right business licenses and insurance."
Welch and Flynn are also funding part of the store through a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised more than $3,000 of its $20,000 goal thus far. Welch said the store will open regardless of the campaign, but they wanted to give the community a chance to contribute.