GRAND OPENING!!!

Monday, Aug 29, 2022 12:00 AM

August 15th was a beautiful day for us. We spent two months in a renovation cocoon as Windows Booksellers Portland was transformed into Arches Bookhouse. Along the way, we demoed walls, remodeled bathrooms, painted exteriors, purged and restocked barren shelves,  nervously traced our new logo and name on the building, and finally finished painting the "U-S-E" the night before the opening.

These changes were not without some trepidation! Would anyone notice the paintjob? Would anyone care that it was more open and browsable inside? Would we receive death threats for (among other slight tweaks and refinements to the inventory) condensing the $3 Mass Market Paperback section to one (much more carefully curated) case? Time will tell, but the response at the opening was incredibly positive and encouraging. 

More than anything, it was a treat to be able to welcome y'all into the new shop and renew this fellowship of bibliophiles that makes up the community of those who have so faithfully shared this book life with us. 

After our friends and neighbors stuffed their beautiful faces with Orange Fanta and hot dogs, we were graced with the voices of five poets to christen the shop!

Meredith

Chris

 

Unlike Meredith, Chris, Steve, Paul, & Wesley (the latter three unpictured), I am not a poet. So I won't elaborate the joy and gratitude I've been riding on since this night. But I'll tell you all the same: thank you, it was good.