After seven years as a "bookstore without a store," featuring online and pop-up sales, the Snail on the Wall bookstore hosted a grand opening celebration last weekend for its new bricks-and-mortar location at 816 Wellman Avenue in the historic Five Points district of Huntsville, Ala.
Owned by Lady Smith and Christina Tabereaux, the Snail on the Wall features new books in every genre, including a wide range of titles for children and teens. The bookstore also plans to host regular author events.
"We want to connect readers with writers and their stories, and we hope that Huntsville will be a destination for authors making stops in neighboring cities like Nashville," said Smith.
The Snail on the Wall launched in 2017 as a pop-up and online business. Since then, it has grown into a community bookstore serving not only readers with delivery to doorsteps but working with local nonprofits, businesses, and the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system.
"Now, with a brick-and-mortar location, we can do even more to build a strong community of readers, not to mention helping people discover their next exciting read," Tabereaux noted.
The co-owners added: "We hope you love the specially selected reads that will constantly rotate through our collection, and that you have a new experience each time you visit The Snail."
During the opening festivities, Smith told WHNT: "I'm completely overwhelmed that people were waiting at the door. It means so much. This is a risky thing to do, but it makes us feel great that people are excited about it."
Taberaux added: "We know that customer when they walk in the door. We always joke that it's a little like Norm from Cheers the TV show a while ago, where that person walks in the door, we know them, we know what they like when we are ordering books, we can look at that and say 'oh so and so, so and so's gonna love this one.' "