Today we’d like to introduce you to Jillian Reed.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started a book club towards the end of the pandemic, and we joked that we drink a lot and read a little. This sparked the idea of a bookstore and bar. I didn’t have the money to open a business like this, so I started small. After setting up the business entity, I set up accounts with publishers and placed my first order; from there, I brought books to the people. We served our community as a pop-up bookstore for a year and a half. We then found the cutest and tiniest Italian truck on Facebook, so we moved from pop-up bookstore to mobile bookstore. Fast forward another year, and the space next to our favorite coffee shop became open. Blockhouse has been extremely supportive, including adding a free bookbar in their shop to help us raise money. We are now set to open Richmond’s only bookstore and cocktail bar at the end of Feb/beginning of March
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not exactly, money has been the biggest struggle, but after raising money from the bookbar in Blockhouse, community donations, and an angel investor, we were finally able to make our dream come true.
Finding a space was also a huge struggle. We were positive that we wanted to be in Historic Downtown Richmond despite all of the empty buildings and commercial spaces, many owners were not will to lease their space to us. We even tried to buy a historic home zoned for commercial use, then found out Fort Bend County sent imminent domain letters to the entire block in order to tune 4 100+-year-old homes into a parking lot. We alerted the community, and they came together to stop the county. However, the owners chose to sell the house to someone else.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about LIT bookbar?
LIT bookbar is a bookstore and cocktail bar. We will provide a cozy and welcoming environment for the community to come together around literature and libations.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Community is insanely important, and we need more community-centric gathering places.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.litbookbar.net
- Instagram: @litbookbar
- Facebook: @litbookbar
