Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, Iowa, will host a 20th birthday party this coming Saturday, July 11, that will also celebrate the shop's recent expansion. The Register reported that the bookstore, which took over a neighboring law office, has doubled its size. Founder and co-owner Alice Meyer joked that before the expansion, a visiting author who could attract a crowd in excess of the store's 35 chairs could claim a "standing-room only" signing. "It's very cozy."
Since 2015, Meyer has worked with Hunter Gillum, who became majority owner of the store in 2023. Gillum "will take over day-to-day operations of the store after Meyer's retirement at a date to be determined," the Register noted, adding that the new space will allow Gillum to move his office from a nook in the original store to the back of the former law office.
"It was kind of like something we'd been dreaming about for years," Meyer said of the expansion. "And then we jumped on it."
Meyer, who moved to Beaverdale in 1982, recalled when the building that houses her store didn't exist: "It was a little village. Clothing stores, and there was a five-and-dime store. I might be dating myself there."
The bookstore took over the lease for the new space in September 2023, when one of the two lawyers moved out. After the other one left in January, the bookstore owners began to plan the expansion, which involved new lighting and flooring, as well as removing the wall that once separated the two sides of the store.
"We had some events where the drywall was covered with plastic," said Jan Kaiser, the store's marketing and events coordinator. It also had one where guests had to stand on exposed subfloor, "but the authors were great, the customers, nobody cared. They were just like, 'We're so excited about the expansion.' "
The Register noted that Gillum "looks forward to leading the store into its future, even if it means he has less time to read (doubly so since he welcomed a baby last year)."