Grass Roots Books of Corvallis, OR hosted a triumphant parade and celebration from the previous location at 227 SW 2nd St. to the store’s new home, 251 SW Madison Avenue on March 9, 2024. A bagpiper led the way (see the photo acknowledgements below!) and some of the community carried bookish and bookstore-loving signs.
Once inside, booklovers enjoyed refreshments, shopping in the new space, a 15%-off sale, and free advance readers copies as well as a give-away of copies Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading — a gift from the author, Chris Anderson.
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Executive Director Brian Juenemann was there to join the salute to Grass Roots Books and its community. Enjoy Brian’s photos and a message from the owners of Grass Roots, Sandy Smith and Jack Wolcott.
From Grass Roots Books March 8, 2024:
- First, to our wonderful staff. They have “moved mountains” to get us to where we are! We could have never made this happen without them. They are: Will Swank, Tiffany Harlan, Frank Allbritten, Danielle Painter, Donovan Reves, Bronwynn Dean and Elizabeth Mann. They and some dedicated volunteers went so far above and beyond to pack the store inventory, to then turn around and re-shelve it in the new store, and then to take charge of sorting and moving 53 years’ worth of stuff. And special thanks to Will Swank for taking a lead on so many of the hard decisions that we as owners were overwhelmed by. And also a special thank you to the families and partners of our staff and friends, for your understanding while they were away helping us.
- Lee Eckroth and Tony Pappas, their families and their team of contractors. They made the beautiful new store possible, and did so in an unbelievably short amount of time: Jan 1 through Feb 15!! Lee and Tony worked incredibly hard to make this happen and they deserve so much of the credit for this project. Many of the beautiful design decisions were theirs, such as the new ADA bathroom. It’s gorgeous! There are also a couple of fun “easter eggs” gifts from them to discover in the space. They have a commitment to an aesthetic to honor the history of the 1922 Rennie Building and have restored the entire building honoring that aesthetic, along with their headquarters at ‘The 257’. We feel very fortunate to have been able to find our way to them.
- Sue Lyn Thomas and her company Beyond Belief for her wonderful sense of design and color choices. We put ourselves in her hands for her color design and we’re really glad we did; we are so pleased with the beautiful palette she chose. Thank you Sue Lyn!
- Lori Stephens with Broadleaf Architecture. Thank you Lori for bearing with us and all of our iterations of plans!
- Brad Johnson Signs for the beautiful job restoring our sign. Brad made our original sign that hung on Second St. He has restored and remade the sign with some new touches. Please note, there are details that we will point out, such as real gold leaf and crushed green glass smalts on that sign!
- Thank you to Tim Davenport, Angi Davenport and Matt Hector of the Shoe Hutch for all their years of service in this space, placing wonderful shoes on our feet and creating a warm and inviting place to be greeted by the world’s sweetest dogs.
- Our friends who stepped in to help, some for days! We are so grateful to Bryan Dawley, Audrey Perkins, Leslee Lucas, Liam Walker, Nancy Rohn, Kimberly and Gary Hamel, Anna Ellendman, Richard Saylor, Sandy Riverman, sister Ann Bonds,and sister Teresa King. Thank you all for helping to lighten our load!
- John Alberti from Windstone Editions for the amazing shelf supports and use of the huge carts that you may have seen us rolling down the street moving inventory down the sidewalks over to Madison Ave.
- Mark Rampton and his team of missionaries from the LDS Church. Their team moved truckloads over several days to our new store, we can’t imagine getting the move done without their help. We are very grateful for their help and their wonderful energy.
- Neel Banerjee and his team from Queen B Organizing. We had to call for help on very short notice and they were fantastic helping to move loads of inventory and shelving, thank you Neel and team!
- To Keara and Tristan at New Morning Bakery. They were waiting in the wings, ready to help move things with one of Tristan’s big trucks. They have gracefully provided the wonderful bar and cookie tray at the celebration Sat. the 9th. Glad we are still close enough to be neighbors! Thank you!
- Thank you to Diann Roth who made her incredible gluten free cookies for our celebration. They are so good, you might find yourself converting to gluten free desserts!
- Rob Gandara for leading us with his bagpipes in our celebration parade.
- And finally, thank you to everyone who replied to our newsletter or reached out and offered to help. There were many of you and your offers were so appreciated and knowing that we could have called you meant the world to us!