A novel called, “
Moon Palace,” by Paul Auster, made quite an impression on Angela Schwesnedl as a young reader.
So much so that when she and her husband, Jamie, recently decided to open a bookshop within walking distance of their South Minneapolis house, they christened it
Moon Palace Books. “It’s the book that turned me into a reader,” she says.
The 840-square-foot new and used bookshop opened on Oct. 25 in a former storage space on 33rd and Minnehaha, alongside
Trylon Microcinema and
Peace Coffee Shop.
It’s titles like “Moon Palace” that the couple have hand-selected for the store--items that “My husband and I are excited about reading,” she says.
The bookstore has special sections devoted to local authors, cookbooks, gardening, urban homesteading, film, fiction, graphic novels, poetry, children’s books, and more. It also sells ereaders and ebooks.
To get the space bookstore-ready, the couple replaced the garage door with a glass door, painted the interior lavender, and lined the walls with wooden bookshelves. “Everyone says it smells like real wood and books,” she says.
The storefront is highly visible on the street, too, with bold bands of color wrapping around the building's exterior.
The neighborhood has been supportive of the shop, which she says fills a void. “There’s not a lot of bookstores in the neighborhood but there are a lot readers here,” she says. “I think we’ll be a good fit.”
Already, the bookstore has been getting foot traffic from the neighboring businesses, and vice versa.
Although things are still coming together in the bookshop, “If you like to dig around find stuff, it’s a great place,” she says, adding, “I think we’re just a fun and interesting place to shop for books.”
Source: Angela Schwesnedl
Writer: Anna Pratt