East Bay Booksellers, Oakland, Calif., which was destroyed by a fire in July, will reopen by November 30 in a temporary space at 6022 College Ave., a few blocks north of its previous location in the Rockridge neighborhood, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Owner Brad Johnson said the bookstore will be there for a minimum of six months while he continues to search for a larger location in the area: "A very high priority is to stay in Rockridge just given our presence there for so long as a bookstore."
This week Johnson was still in the process of ordering fixtures, books, shelves, computers and other equipment for the new space, which he said is about half the size of the previous location.
The July 30 fire "ravaged the bookstore and prompted a handful of evacuations nearby," the Chronicle noted. The second floor above the store, which housed offices, collapsed--preventing fire officials from determining a cause. The fire resulted in a total loss.
Fans of the bookstore and fellow booksellers across the U.S. galvanized support to help Johnson raise $232,238 in a GoFundMe campaign to pay for inventory, employee salaries, and a future temporary location for East Bay Booksellers.
Following the fire, Johnson continued to sell books online and host author events at other sites, but he and his team are excited to be able to interact with customers face-to-face again. "While we've been very grateful for all of the orders and how we've been able to fulfill orders online, what we do best is not online commerce," Johnson said. "It really is the immediacy of a brick and mortar bookstore... dealing with people face to face--that's where we thrive, and it's really where the love of what we do happens."