Within a little more than a week of the demolition of the Victorian house that was home to The Book House in Rock Hill, the new Book House should open its doors in Maplewood at 7352 Manchester Road. Owner Michelle Barron hopes to pass the building inspection as early as Monday afternoon and that’s when she’ll open for business.
“It will be a soft, soft opening,” Barron said.
She said there won’t be a lot of books on shelves when they first open, “but people can come look, they can dig through boxes, they can help put stuff up, but we will be able to have doors open.”
Barron hopes people come in to shop as soon as the doors open because bills for the renovation are due in a month. “We’re still not free and clear,” she said.
Approximately a third of the main floor will be in use when the store opens its doors. The basement space will open in the spring, and the rest of the main floor may not be ready for another year. Barron said another investor in the business would help speed things up.
Barron said she could use volunteers all week to move books, move boxes of books, put books on shelves. “That’s the fun part,” she said.
Old doors and windows were salvaged from the old house to be used for decoration. Shelves from the old house were being installed on Sunday.
“In about three days we’ll have this place rollin’,” she said.