The Book Haus in New Braunfels, Tex., which closed in 2023, will reopen later this month. The Herald-Zeitung reported that owner Sabrina Caldwell plans to host a grand reopening celebration in its new location at 344 Landa Street on Saturday, April 26, Independent Bookstore Day.
"I'm [looking forward] to just getting back in the community, bringing books to people. It's nice just being able to interact with people," she said, adding that Indie Bookstore Day "is such an important [day] for bookstores, especially independent bookstores, because it [raises] awareness of supporting independent bookstores and showing what we can do for the community, how we give back. It's also supposed to be bigger than that... it's supposed to show that if you support a small business, like an independent bookstore, we can help the community, whereas if you buy books off of Amazon, you're supporting somebody who doesn't even help the community."
The Book Haus will primarily offer used books, along with a selection of popular and new titles as well as works by local authors. "That's always one of the fun things that we try to do," Caldwell said. "We try to have local authors out and support them, do anything we can to help them succeed."
The Book Haus opened in 2018 and closed two years ago when Caldwell's family moved away from New Braunfels.
"We were able to give back to the community--we had a great following," Caldwell recalled. "But then, our family decided we were going to move away for a little bit. We thought we were going to move permanently, but we were gone a year, basically, and I was like, 'Nope, I want to go back to New Braunfels.' "
After the move, she said many people asked her about reopening the store, and eventually she decided: "I'm gonna do it--I'm gonna see what happens."