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| Jill Heinke Moen (l.) and Margaret Leonard | |
Margaret Leonard and Jill Heinke Moen, co-owners of Dotters Books, Eau Claire, Wis., which will open later this month, "haven't needed a brick-and-mortar store to make an impact" in the city over the last year and a half, the Leader-Telegram reported. They "started a book club that quickly outgrew its meeting space at Red's Mercantile, coordinated pop-up book shops at local businesses and dove head-first into supporting the community they hoped would return the favor."
After searching for the perfect storefront, they have leased a building at 1602 Hogeboom Ave. in the East Hill Neighborhood that doesn't need a lot of renovations. They are aiming to open by mid- to late September.
Leonard said having the store will only help them improve on their mission to be a community space, foster conversation, connect with others and promote quality books. She feels they have already been doing this "on a smaller scale" and is excited to see it expand.
"Instead of having 10,000 books and people feeling overwhelmed, you'll be able to walk in and talk to somebody that can speak to the book," she said. "We're going to face all of our books out so you can see all of the covers and are maybe drawn to a cover. Books are a beautiful piece of art... in so many ways."
The book club will continue, with the bookshop "finally giving them a home to meet on a monthly basis. To return the favor of all the spaces that have hosted Dotters, she said they also plan to hold pop-up shops with any local business that is interested," the Leader-Telegram wrote.
"People have been so generous with us hosting pop-ups that we're excited to do the same thing, meet more people and connect with them," Leonard said. "I think that's really what books can do--they're a vehicle to a conversation with somebody, and then you find out you have all of these other things in common.... We're really excited to add to the culture of the East Hill and start building a community culture. We can be a great neighborhood place but also a destination for people who don't live in the neighborhood."
She added: "I've been wanting to open a bookstore my whole life, it's been a life goal, so it feels surreal we're going to make that happen. It's a little overwhelming and a little bit scary. With any great leap comes a risk, but I think we're ready to meet the challenge."