The King's English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, Utah, has opened two neighborhood pocket locations in local coffee shop/cafés, a move that will "let us stay connected with the readers who have supported us for decades while introducing ourselves to entirely new readers who may discover us over a cup of coffee or a fresh loaf of bread," said Cal Crosby, chief bookseller at the King's English.
One of the store's neighborhood locations is at Post in Holladay. Post has 85-100 titles offering "a taste of TKE, with staff picks, Rewriting the West titles, romance, literary fiction, nature, local authors and local interest, as well as a robust kids section." Readers can also order titles from the main shop online and pick them up at the pocket location, called TKE Outpost.
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| The King's English at Post | |
Post is also home to Blind Date with a Book, a program benefiting Brain Food Books, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting communities one book at a time. Through donations and community support, Brain Food Books provides books to under-recognized and underserved communities of all ages, expanding access to books and empowering the freedom to choose them.
The other King's English Neighborhood Pocket Location, at Leavity Bread & Coffee, features titles devoted to coffee, bread, baking, cooking, and the joy of gathering around a table.
"Books belong wherever people gather," Crosby observed. "At Leavity, that means celebrating food, coffee, craftsmanship, and conversation. At Post, it means honoring a space with a rich community history while creating new opportunities for discovery. I love the idea that someone can stop in for a loaf of bread or a cup of coffee and leave with exactly the book they didn't know they needed. If we're lucky, they'll come back to the bookshop next time--and bring a friend." The King's English will do programming at both Post and Leavity. TKE also has two locations at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Crosby also noted that "across the country, we're seeing wonderfully creative new bookshop models opening every day. I love that. Experimentation is healthy. It keeps our industry vibrant. But why should the new kids have all the fun? Legacy bookshops should get to play, too.... Just because you've been around for nearly 50 years doesn't mean you stop experimenting. In fact, I think that's exactly when you should."