Dreamland Books & Yarn hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Independent Bookstore Day, April 27, to celebrate the shop's opening at 302 Washington St. in Seward, Alaska. Co-owners Micheley Kowalski and Michael Stewart, who also operate Resurrect Art Coffee House, note on their new store's website: "We think books & yarn are the very best creature comforts. We've longed for a bookstore and yarn store in Seward for years, so we decided to make one ourselves! We love Seward, and we're so excited to bring this exciting new storefront to our community."
Nestled in a small red storefront downtown, Dreamland "offers a wide selection of books, as well as more than 10 brands of yarn," KBBI reported, adding that the store's concept came from Kowalski's desire to sell two of her favorite things in one place.
"You walk into the store, and the books and the covers are so colorful, and then seeing all the yarn on the walls of the colors and textures. And they just seem to really work well together. And they really are creature comforts," she said.
Feedback from customers since the opening has been positive. "It's been really heartwarming," Kowalski noted. "There's just so many people who come in, and they say, 'Oh, I'm so glad to have a bookstore in town.' For people who love bookstores--and I know there's a lot of us out there--they're just sort of the beating heart of the community."
She added that she wants to expand her yarn offerings to include locally made options, and plans to stay open year-round and host events in the off season. "Right now I feel really positive. And, you know, the winter will be a different season, it'll be a different feeling," she said. "But I also feel like having community events at the book and yarn store--book clubs and knitting nights and craft nights--I think that's really important for communities. And so I'm pretty confident that the community will support us."