Books & Mortar Bookstore, Grand Rapids, Mich., is "expanding to the lakeshore" with the addition of a store at 447 Washington Ave. in Holland, Mich., Crain's Grand Rapids Business reported. Jenny Kinne and her partner, Josh Johnson, plan to open Antidote Books & Records by the end of August. The new store, about 30 miles from the current one, will offer books for adults and adolescents along with gifts and a selection of new and used records.
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Calling Books & Mortar "the biggest passion project that I've had in my life," Kinne said, "I love the community that has come around that spot.... Books & Mortar has just been my home for such a long time." She took ownership of the bookstore in 2018 from co-founders Jonathan Shotwell and Christopher Roe, and relocated to its current, larger space at 966 Cherry St. SE in 2021.
Kinne and Johnson moved to Holland two years ago, which led to the idea for Antidote Books & Records. "We've slowly built up this really vibrant, great life in Holland, and we're just ready to make it home and build something akin to Books & Mortar in our new backyard," Kinne said. "I obviously have a huge passion for books and wanted to see another independent bookshop in the Holland (Washington Square) neighborhood that didn't have a bookshop yet."
Johnson, a musician, will operate Antidote, which will allow him to realize his dream of opening a record shop. Crain's Grand Rapids Business noted that Kinne has signed a three-year lease for the former restaurant space, and over the coming weeks will give it " a fresh coat of paint and new furniture."
"We want to make sure that we're honoring the history and the beauty that's already there," she said. "With it being a record shop, of course, we want to bring some of that retro spirit into it, a colorful, fun space."
She hopes that Antidote can bring a new "third space" to Holland's Washington Square neighborhood. "Everything that I've tried to do through a bookshop, and everything that my partner hopes to do through a record shop, will be bringing people together, offering sanctuary, offering healing through art, which, for me, historically, has been books, and for him, it's music," Kinne said. "We think that books and record shops are an antidote to so much of the pain that we feel in the world right now."