A bookstore pop-up with a mysterious owner has opened for the summer on the Upper West Side.
Epilogue Books opened Tuesday and will operate at 2305 Broadway (between 83rd and 84th streets) through most of August, though an exact closing date wasn’t shared. The space formerly housed Blue Mercury which closed in 2021.
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We spoke to two employees, Talia and Shimona, who were not forthcoming with specific details about the owners but did confirm the pop-up is run by a family who does not have a background in the book industry, and that it’s not affiliated with any other bookstore.
The storefront is a mostly open space with books separated by category along the two side walls. Categories include biographies, drama and poetry, history, coffee table, mass markets, language, cookbooks and children’s, with the remaining offerings organized alphabetically by author. The shop’s employees told us the biography section is likely the biggest category.
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All books available at the pop-up are used, with most having been collected, purchased from garage sales or estate sales, or just “happened upon,” according to the employees we spoke with. A goal of the storefront is to recycle and reuse books. A portion of proceeds will go to One Tree Planted, an environmental organization with the mission to “make it simple for anyone to help the environment by planting trees.” The store also offers One Tree Planted tote bags for $8 each.
Books cost anywhere from $2 (mass market paperbacks) to $15 (coffee table), with most books priced at $4 (paperback) or $8 (hardcover), not including tax. The store will be open six days a week from Sunday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to Epilogue’s Instagram page.
The store is actively accepting donations for used books that are in good condition and fall into any genre outside reference or textbooks. Anyone wishing to donate can bring books to the store directly during open hours.
Sounds and looks like the space is being “warehoused” until permits, variances, building code issues, liens (?) are all taken care of and repurposing can begin. The fact that the owners have no previous background or current affiliation with booksellers and are offering essentially remaindered and resale of discarded books only seems to suggest that this “pop-up” is temporary until some green light comes on in the future. I suppose “books for a $1 or $2” beats another coffee/baked goods or cannabis storefront.