Following its debut as a mobile bookstore last year, Austen's Shelf will open a bricks-and-mortar store in Bordentown, N.J., on June 6, WHYY News reported.
Located at 230 Farnsworth Ave., the bookstore spans 468 square feet and offers new titles for all ages, along with book-related merchandise and gifts. Like the 98-square-foot trailer in which it debuted, the store features a design meant to evoke the Regency era, and the opening weekend festivities will include Regency-themed activities like a Bridgerton dance class and a costume contest.
Going forward, owner Charity Herndon plans to host book clubs and author readings at the bricks-and-mortar store while continuing to make pop-up appearances with the book trailer. Herndon will also continue the store's monthly audiobook walking club, in which members meet at a local coffee shop before taking walks together while listening to audiobooks.
Herndon is also an author, and she was inspired to open Austen's Shelf after finding two tumors in her breast when she was 29. While waiting for test results following surgery, she thought about "one thing I haven't done that I wanted to save for retirement," Herndon told WHYY. The answer was opening a bookstore.
The book trailer made its first appearance at the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, N.J., on September 5. Some 1,000 people attended, Herndon recalled, and the bookstore built up a following with each successive appearance.
To help open the bricks-and-mortar store, Herndon launched a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $20,000.
"It's so awesome to see a lot of people I've met through Austen's Shelf, to see their names next to the donations," Herndon said. "It just shows that they believe in the dream as much as we do."