Mark your calendars: John Shortino and Allison Mosher are celebrating the grand opening of Nine Stories bookstore on Saturday, October 1st!
Nine Stories, located at 5400 Butler Street in Lawrenceville, will share space with Caffè d’Amore — so you’ll be able to caffeinate while you browse their expertly curated collections (new and used!) of science fiction, fantasy, and general fiction…
For news from Nine Stories, follow @ninestoriespgh on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Nine Stories will be hosting events, so don’t miss out!
How is the transition going from being a pop-up bookstore to a brick-and-mortar?
It’s very exciting. While we were doing pop-up events, we got to know the community and work on our bookselling skills, but it didn’t take long to get to a point where we had boxes of books that we weren’t able to bring out due to space limitations–both on the table and in the back of our VW Rabbit. But we kept developing our inventory and trying to bring books that we thought people would love, or that went well with particular events, and we kept expanding our used book inventory.
Now that we’re in our space and starting to fill the shelves, we’re thrilled to be able to share a wider range of books and start bringing in new titles that we’re particularly excited about. There have definitely been some surprises that have come up as we’ve been setting up the space, but with our pop-up experience, it feels like we’re scaling up rather than starting fresh.
Why did you decide to open in Upper Lawrenceville?
When we first moved to Pittsburgh in 2012, we knew we wanted to eventually open a bookstore and were already thinking about Lawrenceville as a possibility. In the past year or two, we saw so many great shops and restaurants opening in the 10th Ward, and we realized a bookstore would be an excellent addition and fill a need on Butler Street, so we started seriously searching for spaces in the neighborhood.
When Sarah Walsh from Caffe d’Amore approached us about opening our brick-and-mortar location in the space next to her shop, we quickly realized that having a bookstore and a cafe so close together would be perfect for both businesses. We also decided to eliminate the divider between the space so customers could grab a coffee and browse books, or buy a book to sit and read while sipping a latte. We’re also looking forward to having the cafe next door as we start hosting events!
What are some of your favorite titles on the shelf right now?
One collection we’re particularly excited about is Alexander Weinstein’s Children of the New World. We’re big fans of authors who uses science fiction or fantasy tropes, settings and concepts to tell beautiful, human stories. In nonfiction, we recently picked up Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures, which is about the black female mathematicians who worked for NASA during the space race and intersects several topics that really interest us.
On the used book side, we have a box set of Calvino paperbacks that we can barely resist taking home ourselves, and a growing collection of Octavia Butler books that we love. We’re actively looking to expand our sci-fi and fantasy offerings, so we’re excited for customers to start bringing books to trade!
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