Queens Bookshop Initiative Opens Brick and Mortar Store | NY1

"The borough is turning a new page as a new general book store opens in Kew Gardens. And as NY1 has been reporting, it's after the community rallied around a team of bookworms looking for a new nook" inform Thalia Perez.
 

Photo: NY1

With the cut of a ribbon, a new chapter starts for Kew Gardens.

Kew and Willow Books founders Holly Nikodem, Vina Castillo and Natalie Noboa used to work at the Barnes and Noble in Forest Hills. When the franchise started closing stores in Queens  a couple of years ago, they realized there was only one general book shop left in the borough.

"It's not enough,” said Holly Nikodem, a co-owner of Kew & Willow Books.” People like to own their books. They like to build THEIR  own library,” she added.

They started a Kickstarter campaign  last year. The community raised more than 72 thousand dollars to start the store.

"It was really, really inspiring and emboldening to know that they had our backs,” Nikodem said.

And now thousands of books line the shelves at their new home  on Lefferts Boulevard and Beverly Road. There are also tributes to their favorite stories and authors throughout the shop and even a tribute in their store name.

"Kew because Kew Gardens, they've been supportive since the start,” said Vina Castillo, a co-owner at Kew & Willow Books. "We kept thinking of a tree because Forest Hills and I kept thinking of Harry Potter and 'Whomping Willow.’"...

The store opens Saturdays and Sundays at 11 AM, giving Queens readers another place to crack open a book.  
Read more... 

Source: NY1