When Rachel Sanders began thinking of opening a bookstore in Hopkinsville, she knew it would need to be a place where people felt comfortable spending time. She didn’t want it to be the kind of store where customers dash in and out with book purchases.
“We really want this to be a gathering space,” Sanders said of the building that is taking shape as The Book & Bottle Shop at Ninth and Virginia streets.
“That’s the purpose behind the books and bar. You can come in and you can buy a book or bring a book. We’re going to have comfy couches and … little nooks to curl up with a good book or to bring a laptop and work in here. We want it to be a very welcoming, inviting space.”
The shop will have its grand opening on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Sanders, 28, is the sole owner. She’ll also be one of downtown Hopkinsville’s youngest business owners.
A 2017 graduate of Asbury University near Lexington, Sanders is the marketing and events coordinator for Hopkinsville Parks and Recreation, and she plans to keep her day job. Her husband, Scotty Sanders, who does freelance audio production, has agreed to work days as the bookstore’s operations manager. They also have seven part-timers lined up to staff the business.
Older residents of Hopkinsville will remember the building at 123 E. Ninth St. as the site of Tom Wade’s Men’s Store, a high-end clothing shop with an exacting proprietor from about 1961 to 2000. It closed when Wade retired in 2000.
Younger people might recall a brief period when the building housed a small event center. But for much of the past 20 years, the two-story corner shop with dormer windows set against wood shingles hasn’t been in use.
“I’ve loved this building since I was a kid,” Sanders said. Back then she believed “magical things” must have been happening beyond the front door but she never got to cross the threshold until years later when she was looking for a place for her bookstore.
Sanders’ mother and stepfather, Melissa and Kevin Clayton, bought the building from downtown developer Tyler Young. Once construction is finished, the Claytons will rent two apartments on the second floor and lease the main floor for the bookstore.
Sanders is hoping her business fills a gap in the Hopkinsville market. The inventory will include new releases in fiction and nonfiction, children’s books and a small section of used books.
Currently in Hopkinsville there is a romance bookshop, Blush & Bashful, on Fort Campbell Boulevard, and a popular used book selection in The Corner Coffeehouse downtown. Walmart and local groceries have some new titles, and Goodwill sells used books. Sanders wants to expand on Hopkinsville’s book market with a larger selection of varied genres and new titles. She’s been encouraged by the community’s response to a few pop-up book events.
“I felt like Hopkinsville needed a hybrid model. I wasn’t quite confident that an independent bookstore of this size could survive because books have a very low profit margin,” she said.
Adding food and drinks, and space for gathering, provides an extra layer to the bookstore’s business model. Eventually, when the alcohol beverage licensing is completed, The Book & Bottle Shop will offer wine and beer, along with the non-alcohol drinks and coffees that will be available on opening day. Small plates such as salads and charcuterie will be sold, too.
A small stage has been constructed for readings, book signing, poetry nights and occasional live music. They are working on a reservation system to accommodate book club meetings and game nights. The shop will definitely be a meeting place, said Sanders.
Hours for The Book & Bottle Shop will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
