Beginning November, the Booksmith, San Francisco, Calif., "will expand its offerings across Haight Street with a new space called 'the Bindery,' which will debut inside Second Act at 1727 Haight St.," Hoodline reported.
The bookstore said it plans to transform the 2,400-square-foot space into a "winter literary wonderland," offering "a full array of offbeat, quirky, artistic gifts for children and adults." Hoodline noted that "they'll also be selling a whole lot of books, as well as establishing an event space for community and literary happenings."
Second Act's owners Jack and Betsy Rix announced in August they would be closing the marketplace, which had hosted a variety of food vendors, in order to focus on events and retail partnerships. "When we made the decision to close Second Act earlier this year, we were determined to find a long-term tenant who shares our progressive values of quality and community, and who will enhance and improve the block," Betsy Rix said. "Partnering with Booksmith is a dream come true for us and we cannot imagine a better fit for the neighborhood, or a more exciting use for the space."
Booksmith co-owner Christin Evans said her team will get a feel for the space and make preparations for the new year while running a streamlined holiday pop-up through November and December. "The post-holiday build-out is going to be our chance to really make the space our own," she said. "Think small cafe, Alembic beer and wine, plenty of books--a nice space to linger and spend time."
Evans told the Chronicle that the "new store will enable us to do a couple of things. In addition to allowing us to expand our offerings, we're ultimately going to be able to have a dedicated community events space, which is something that the Haight can always use more of."
Lead buyer Camden Avery said the store will feature a mix of children's books, cookbooks, design and gardening books, and literary bestsellers: "Once we complete the build-out after the year's end, we'll increase the offerings strategically to round out sections that seem to work well in the space, probably with expanded offerings of culinary and children's titles."