The Book House to Open in Maplewood in 3 Stages

The Book House, in Rock Hill, lost its lease in the historic two-story house, and has signed a new lease in Maplewood. The new space, 7352 Manchester Road, hasn't been occupied for 20 years, according to a press release from The Book House owner Michelle Barron, and needs lots of work.

The bookstore will remain open at its current location of 9719 Manchester Road through September. Barron said she hopes to open the new location in October.

Barron said the new space is bigger than the old one and will allow the business to grow to a new level.

"We will be in the heart of a wonderful creative community in the historic district, with lots of potential for collaboration with other local independent businesses," she said.

She said they plan on moving in stages.

"We will fix up part of the space to meet occupancy and building code compliance so we can operate a smaller retail storefront by the holiday season, hopefully by October," she said. 

"It will probably be pretty barebones and bohemian for a while," she said. "But then we will start phase two—opening up the basement level for more sales floor space and raising money for Phase Three."

She said phase three will involve working on the larger space, reinforcing walls, painting, repairing flooring and fixing up the historic tin ceilings. She hopes to host events and book group meetings and have better display.

"It's going to be a big transition, but we hope to have as much open as soon as possible and I think you will love the potential of the new place," Barron said. "With our community's help we can do this!"