The Book Bird hosted its grand opening last weekend at 32 North Avondale Road., Suite C, Avondale Estates, Ga. Rough Draft Atlanta reported that the indie pop-up bookshop created by owner Brittany Smith and Banjo Coffee CEO Chasidy Atchison occupies a 600-square-foot space in a small building also known as the Banjo Lounge just across the street from the coffee shop.
A lifelong bibliophile, Smith moved with her family to Avondale Estates in 2019. After launching the Avondale Book Club with Daphne Godfrey, Smith said the bookshop idea was hatched during a conversation with her husband. "I was just talking to him one day and I said, 'Avondale Estates really needs an independent bookstore, how cool would that be? Someone should open an independent bookstore,' " she noted. "Lo and behold, here we are.... This whole thing happened like five weeks ago
Atchison recalled how Smith alluded to this concept: "I have a vision--it involves bookshelves."
Smith had initially reached out to Atchison, a fellow book club member, asking only for business advice, but "it didn't take much conversation before Atchison suggested that Smith try a pop-up in Banjo Coffee's space just across the street. It was a perfect fit, and the two have been hard at work alongside a team of employees, friends, and volunteers to bring the dream to reality," Rough Draft Atlanta wrote.
Atchison launched Banjo Coffee with her husband in 2015, beginning with a mobile-only coffee truck that soon found a home base for the business. "After schlepping stuff to five farmers markets a week we decided we needed space," she said. They landed in the current location at the end of 2016.
"That's the story of Avondale Estates, it's supportive," said Atchison. "Supportive from the inside. We want the community to flourish and we want to fill the holes, so if we need an independent bookshop let's make it happen. Let's make it specialty, quality, but also fun and approachable. As we grow more into it it will develop an even more defined vibe."
Smith noted: "We have all new releases on the first shelf, mostly from May and some from April. We are a bookshop, a general book store, but we are more than that," Smith said. The Book Bird will host a Books & Brews event every Thursday night, live music on Friday and Saturday nights, Avondale Book Club meetings, and more.
She also plans to host author events, storytime, food pop-ups, and craft nights with local arts organizations such as Fiber Parts. "We are big supporters of the arts, and we want to incorporate that into this space."