New bookstore Downtown; Mystery Lovers for sale
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Co-owner Bob Ziller in the window of his new bookstore, Awesome Books, at 929 Liberty Ave., Downtown. -
A customer browses at Awesome Books, which opened two weeks ago at 929 Liberty Ave., Downtown.
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News from the world of independent booksellers: Awesome Books has opened a new shop Downtown that will stay open until midnight on weekends, while Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont is looking for new owners to take over the local institution.
Awesome Books, 929 Liberty Ave., opened two weeks ago and enjoyed brisk foot traffic during the warm spell when co-owners Bob Ziller and Laura Jean McLaughlin, both artists, were able to prop open the doors.
"People are really excited about having a street-level bookstore in the Cultural District," Mr. Ziller said. "It's hard to gauge things, opening in the middle of winter, but we are looking forward to spring. We hope to be here indefinitely."
The shop takes over a long-vacant storefront. It has about 3,000 volumes on the shelves, new and used, and is aiming for 10,000 when fully stocked. The owners hope to sign a partnership in the next few weeks for a cafe in the rear.
"It's a beautiful, old, turn-of-the-century building with a great facade and high ceilings," said Ms. McLaughlin of the property owned by Rugby Realty. She and Mr. Ziller have put $17,000 into the space so far for period-style lighting, painting, brick cleaning and other renovations.
This is the second location for Awesome Books -- the first, at 5111 Penn Ave. in Garfield, opened two years ago, with Ms. McLaughlin's studio in the rear. The Downtown space is twice the size, roughly 1,000 square feet, well suited for accommodating more people during readings.
One other difference: "This one doesn't have cats," Mr. Ziller said. It seems that Garfield felines Mojo, Cupcake Slim and Molly cause sneezing fits for some customers, so the partners thought a hypo-allergenic alternative would be only fair.
The noon-to-midnight hours on Fridays and Saturdays are an experiment based on Mr. Ziller's time living in New York, where he made regular late-night visits to St. Mark's Bookshop on the Lower East Side.
"I just thought I'd try it here, and so far it's been working out," he said. "Patrons go hear music or see a performance at Mahoney's, Bricolage, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre or the August Wilson Center, and they drop by after the show. They seem pleasantly surprised to find us here and open late," he said.
First Published February 15, 2012 12:00 am
