Bonsai Books has opened at 126 Quincy Road in Cheyenne, Wyo. Sarah John, co-owner with her husband, Jason John, inherited the space from her father and decided to fulfill her dream of owning a bookstore. The building had served as her father's office for two decades, and "there are still aesthetic remnants of a doctor's office inside the space--a wrap-around granite counter at the entrance, polished wood floors and a functioning kitchen space toward the rear of the house," the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported. John had worked as a nurse in her father's clinic for the past 14 years.
Sarah John observed that there are three bookstores in Laramie, not counting colleges stores, saying, "I have always wanted to have a bookstore. And so my husband's like, 'Well, let's do it.' "
Near the center of the room is a small table, two plush blue chairs facing off across a wooden chessboard, with lots of natural light. There are two small bar spaces at each end of the main room, as the Johns intend to sell coffee and tea from the small cafe area. Home-built shelves line the walls, a design choice that "creates an open place that allows customers to browse without having to shuffle past other shoppers in the aisles. More importantly, it's a foundation for what John hopes can become a community space, where, aside from book clubs and author signings, people will feel comfortable hanging around," the Tribune Eagle noted.
"The point of this is for people to have a space where they feel welcome and they can come and talk to us," John said. "Sometimes people just need to get out and have a conversation."
For now, the Johns plan to operate the store on their own, but will eventually seek additional employees, especially if business becomes too much to handle. They plan on carrying a diverse range of books.
"I'm someone that's 100% open to everything," John said. "There's no reason why we should just listen to one person, one train of thought. Even though some people have their favorite authors, it's always good to branch out and read somebody else because it just improves your life by hearing other people."