Comma Bookstore & Social Hub, a Black-owned bookstore that opened in Flint, Mich., in 2020, is closing its bricks-and-mortar location and transitioning to an online-only model, Flintside reported.
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| Owner Egypt Otis at Comma | |
While owner Egypt Otis has not announced a final opening date for the bookstore, a closing sale began on Saturday, November 29, and Comma will hold its final ArtWalk event tonight at 6 p.m. Once the physical store closes, Otis plans to grow Comma's online presence, expand its inventory, and host events in partnership with cultural organizations. She intends to focus on work that preserves Black history and community history.
"There is a very intentional effort to erase history," she said. "It takes a community effort to protect the institutions charged with maintaining these stories."
Per Flintside, Otis attributed the decision to financial factors such as "declining arts funding, reliance on nonprofit grants, and economic challenges in Flint," alongside personal ones. She told the publication: "My mental health, emotional health, all of those things were suffering. Now I can invest in my well-being again."
Comma first opened in September 2020, with the help of a GoFundMe campaign Otis launched that raised more than $11,000. The bookstore focused on Black and brown authors, creators, and culture, and in addition to books sold art and other locally sourced items. At the time, Otis told MLive her vision was to "create a centralized space where we can have accurate representation of people, and when they come in here I want them to feel like they see themselves on the shelves."
"I think the reason why people loved it so much is because they really felt invested in it," Otis told Flintside. "They felt like it was theirs. It was for the city, and it was by the city."