Black Garnet Books in St. Paul, Minn., is up for sale. Owner and founder Dionne Sims announced last week that she is looking for a buyer to take over the store, which sells books and art by authors and illustrators of color, as she leaves to pursue her lifelong passion for writing.
Sims, who founded Black Garnet Books in 2020 as a way to support Black authors and Black-owned businesses in the wake of George Floyd's murder, wrote on Instagram: "This bookstore has the foundation to continue for years to come, and I realized that's what I wanted to accomplish. Following that realization, a new desire started to slowly well up, filling in the gaps of my thoughts about the future. I’ve always loved to write, both personally and professionally... I think about it every day.
"I do it every day. And I want to go back to school to take my craft to another place--a braver place--than I've been able to go on my own. Because I'm someone who throws myself head-and-heart-first into my goals, I refuse to half-ass running Black Garnet, or half-ass my schooling."
To prospective bookstore owners, she noted: "Have you ever wanted a bookstore but the idea of scouting locations, fundraising/applying for funds, building out a retail space from scratch, curating (by hand) an opening inventory of 2,000 titles, and doing grassroots marketing for two years sounds like a lot of work?... Might I point you in the direction of a completely set up, established, thriving, well-loved bookstore in the heart of the capital city of Minnesota?"