Fabled Bookshop & Café hosted its soft opening over the weekend at 215 S. Fourth St. in Waco, Tex. The Tribune-Herald reported that "Fabled is a true story starring Waco natives Alison Frenzel and Kimberly Batson, who announced nearly two years ago their designs on opening a reading, browsing and coffee-drinking getaway downtown, an oasis in the bustle of construction and progress engulfing the city's center." A more formal unveiling is scheduled for this week.
The 6,500-square-foot renovated space is stocked "with titles that locals would find appealing. What they may lack in volume, they hope to make up for with merchandise targeting an audience," the Tribune-Herald noted.
"We're starting with 13,000, have room for at least 20,000, and probably will add 2,000 more in the near term," Frenzel said. "We've examined book lists on school websites, sent e-mails to our Fabled Fellows, local reading enthusiasts who follow us on Facebook, and we factored in our own reading joys. We have tried to include a discoverability factor."
Real estate agent Gregg Glime described the new bookstore as "a great win for downtown. It is one of the proudest projects I have had the opportunity to work on. It's a huge step in the right direction for our chicken-or-egg puzzle downtown. We need people living and working downtown. But we need entertainment, food and amenities to make this attractive. Which comes first?
"Kimberly and Alison deciding to place this in the middle of downtown is exactly what our city needs. Not only did they do a fabulous job on the build-out, design and implementation of the concept, but they are two local women who poured tons of time and energy into bringing this project to life. I truly believe this is a difference maker for downtown Waco."
Batson spoke with Waco Business News' Downtown Depot host Austin Meek about "the long journey from concept to construction, what bibliophiles can expect to see on the shelves, and why she's not afraid of Amazon."