COLUMBIA, S.C. — An independent bookstore is getting ready to open in Main St.’s Arcade Mall.
Odd Bird Books is opening this weekend.
Owner Ben Adams has worked in books for six years and knew that Columbia was in the market for a new shop.
“Its really like a labor of love," says Adams, "You really have to have a personal reason to do it and I’d grown up here in Elmwood and especially the past few years I’ve really loved what’s been going on here, I’ve been spending more of my time here, been coming home on weekends a lot anyways so I was thinking about coming back anyway and when an opportunity to open my own shop- The stars aligned I guess all these things came together at around the same time.”
When Adams first moved back to Columbia, he had a book store pop-up at Soda City while waiting on a space for a brick and mortar location to open up, “Then this space in the arcade opened up only about a month and a half after I had started the pop-up so that timing was really fortuitous," Adams says.
Adams says his independent bookstore will be community driven and specific to Columbia, “The whole point of being here, being in Columbia, specifically being in the arcade, will be to be a part of and participate in this cool revitalization that’s going on downtown and in the city. And to be active in the literary community here and try to have fun events, and to support local writers, and to hopefully bring other regional and nationally known writers into Columbia.”
Odd Bird Books is set to open up Saturday at 10 am.
You can learn more about them on their Facebook page and their Instagram.
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