New Book Joy, the matchmaking “booktique” that opened last year as part of the first cohort of the Brookfield Shops, is making its way out of the retail incubator space and into a dedicated brick-and-mortar storefront at 3741 Prairie Ave.
A grand opening event is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, with an exclusive soft opening one week earlier, said owner Mandy Genge.
“I felt like I couldn’t pass this up. It was almost too good to be true,” Genge said of the location. She said the interior already matches the store’s aesthetic.
Genge said she will be the sole operator of New Book Joy’s Brookfield location while co-owners Connie Obrochta and Therese Tanski will handle business at the store’s location in Chicago’s Edgebrook neighborhood on the Northwest Side.
Last year, as New Book Joy’s owners were preparing for their June opening date at the Brookfield Shops, Genge told the Landmark the group’s long-term goal was to see if a brick-and-mortar location could be viable in Brookfield.
One year later, the shop is the first to open in a permanent storefront out of the seven vendors who have since taken up residency in one of the six 15-foot-by-15-foot sheds at Progress Park that comprise the incubator program.
“[We’ve had] the love and support of Brookfield, Riverside, LaGrange and even Forest Park, Oak Park, Berwyn and all the neighborhoods in between. We definitely have been lucky enough to get a following and consistent customers who have been coming back to the shop and to our bookish events to actually help us make this happen,” she said.
Libby Popovic, Brookfield’s community development director, said New Book Joy will be the first to join the Brookfield Shops program’s alumni level.
“They’re going to remain an active member of the retail incubator program as a whole,” Popovic said. “They’re also going to be able to cross-promote some of their items at the shops themselves. It’s not intended to push anyone out; it’sintended to be a small bridge from the time they enter their brick-and-mortar through the end of this year.”
Genge said the move came together quickly after village officials contacted her about the open storefront.
“Several months earlier, I mentioned it to the village that that’s where we would love to be,” she said. “When we checked it out, we just fell in love … It happened really quick. We saw it, and within a week, we decided to sign the lease and have already put wallpaper up. We’re in the process of moving out of the little shop right now.”
She said New Book Joy’s time at the Brookfield Shops courtyard was marked by immense support from the village and cooperation with the other vendors.
“We’ve collaborated with almost all of them in some way, shape or form,” Genge said. “Outside of the shops, we’ve also been lucky enough to collaborate with so many businesses in the Brookfield area and LaGrange, Lyons, soon in Riverside, and in Oak Park.”
While New Book Joy’s Edgebrook location has seen much success, Genge said the Brookfield community enabled their incubator shop to rival its highs.
“We’re following the same recipe of what we did in the city, but it speeds it up so much if you know what your purpose is and your end goal,” she said. “It is completely wild, and my heart is so full on so many levels because we get to do this in a more permanent form.”
Popovic said she and other village staffers are excited to have New Book Joy be the first to break into a new location in town.
“New Book Joy is the perfect one to lead the way on it. They have been really good partners,” she said. “They do a lot of events; they cross-promote with a lot of local businesses, and it’s the perfect space. It’s like they were meant to be in that space.”