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| Stacks Book Club in Oro Valley | |
Stacks Book Club, which began as a pop-up bookshop before opening its physical store and cafe in Oro Valley, Ariz., in 2023, will be adding a second location, Stacks Book Club Broadway, in Tucson at 2920 East Broadway Blvd., part of the Mid-Century District within Sunshine Mile. It is also the former site of the iconic Austin's Ice Cream shop, which originally opened in 1959 and served the community for several decades.
Lizzy Jeffrey-Franco, who owns Stacks Book Club with her husband, Crispin, told the Tucson Sentinel they had finalized their purchase recently, adding: "Right now, we've drawn so many people to our tiny Oro Valley bookstore. The biggest piece of advice we've heard from customers is 'you need a location in Midtown.' "
The new space was chosen because of its size, central location and midcentury charm. The owners had been planning to expand the business for more than a year. They hope to have it open by January, the Sentinel wrote.
"We're basically cranking up the volume on everything," said Jeffrey-Franco, adding that the new 4,000-square-foot space will enable them to nearly double their book inventory, add new food and drink options to the coffee bar, continue to keep works from local authors on the shelves and host more events by prominent authors. "We're hoping, with the more central location, we're able to send pitches to more publishers," she added.
The Stacks Book Club in Oro Valley will continue operating as usual. "We loved bringing Stacks to our community," Jeffrey-Franco said. "We're definitely not closing our doors in Oro Valley."
In their social media post announcing the expansion, the owners wrote: "We see ourselves as being a complementary addition to the existing ecosystem of independent bookstores already in central Tucson. We hope to continue to use our platform to motivate more of Tucson to shop indie. We are intentional in focusing on what makes us unique and what we do best at Stacks--cultivating a community hub, hosting banging events, and serving up inventive, and delicious beverages while we're at it."