The Loyalty Bookstores location in Petworth, Washington, D.C., will reopen Saturday, February 15, following a move.
The Petworth store at 843 Upshur St. closed earlier this month in preparation for the move around the corner, to 4203 9th St. NW. There will be a preview night and party for Loyalty members tomorrow, February 14, followed by a full opening on Saturday. Hours will remain limited through the rest of the month, with the Loyalty team planning to expand hours and host a grand opening block party in March.
Earlier this year, Loyalty co-owners Hannah Oliver Depp and Christine Bollow announced that they would be relocating in February once the store's lease was up. At the time they noted: "after talking through options with our landlord and partners, we came to the conclusion that we would need to make a change. Our move is motivated both due to operating costs in the current location and what kind of work we want and need to do in order to get to our next milestone anniversary with our community."
The store's last full day of operation on Upshur St. was February 2. Loyalty first opened in Petworth in February 2019.
Loyalty also operates a location inside the Parks at Walter Reed in partnership with the DC Pop-Up. The store's location in Silver Spring, Md., has been closed since January 5 while Bump & Grind undergoes significant renovations. Although a reopening date for Silver Spring remains TBD, all inventory and customer holds have been moved to the DC Pop-Up.
In their message announcing the Petworth reopening, Bollow and Depp wrote: "We all see that corporations have pre-emptively caved to fascism by dumping BIPOC and queer partners, publishing books at all is under threat, and whatever visibility the billionaire-owned platforms once touted has disappeared. With all this stacking up against marginalized booksellers, we are reminded that our neighborhood built Loyalty and it is to our neighborhood we continue to dedicate ourselves."