Hey Books! opened earlier this month in downtown San Diego, Calif., SD News reported.
Located at 921 E. St. in downtown's East Village, Hey Books! carries new and used titles, bookish gifts, and store-branded merchandise. Co-owners Anika Omark and Matthew Hein first welcomed customers on April 9, and this Saturday, April 26, they will take part in the San Diego Book Crawl.
"Both me and Matthew have a background in independent bookstores in San Diego," Omark told SD News, "and so we're really excited to have all of the people who love crawling coming to our store."
Hein noted that "there was a time when downtown San Diego had at least five bookstores," and it was the lack of one in the area that inspired them to open a store of their own. "We just knew that this bookstore, Hey Books!, needed to happen and the area needed a bookstore."
The bookstore is near a record store and a comic book store, and there are a number of restaurants nearby. Omark, who was already familiar with the area, felt it was a great location for a bookstore.
Prior to starting Hey Books!, Hein worked at the Book Catapult in South Park, and Omark worked at Verbatim in North Park. Omark added that there's "a lot of camaraderie" among San Diego's independent bookstores.