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Despite the hard times facing new businesses during the pandemic, a new bookstore is taking things head on to open in West Commerce Street

Books & Such, which will be located right next to The Pineapple, is looking to be open for business sometime this summer.

The bookstore will feature new and used books, local artist crafts, board games, and more. The café portion of the business will offer coffee from a local business, muffins, cookies, pound cake, and cheese straws. There will be monthly events hosted at the business including kids’ storytime with crafts, book signings and readings from local authors, and local book club meetings.

Anyone interested in supporting the business can donate their gently used books in exchange for store credit.

According to Evan Raulerson, one of the owners of the business, the goal is to gather as many books as possible before the grand opening. “We have a goal of getting at least 5,000 books before we open,” he said. “At this time, we have a little over 3,000 books and counting.”

Despite all the donations, the business is still lacking a few genres of literature. “Non-fiction and self-help books are currently or smallest category,” said Raulerson. “We have received many donations to fill our other categories, but those genres have been a bit more difficult to gather.”

Regarding the challenge of opening a business during a pandemic, Raulerson says they have always kept Covid in mind while planning things out. “Covid has always been in the back of our minds as we’ve been figuring things out,” he said. “We do plan on following social distancing guidelines when we open. Hopefully, there won’t be as many limiting factors by that time, but we will continue to adapt and be flexible while still in a COVID-19 environment.”