The Chapter & Co. Bookstore will open later this year at 278 W. San Antonio St. in New Braunfels, Tex. Co-founders and sisters Lilliana Brabham, who is president and CEO, and secretary Laura Hickman "are transforming the red brick townhouse into New Braunfels' next stop for the community's book, cafe and boutique needs," the Herald-Zeitung reported. They hope to finish their store by the end of this year
When they were growing up, Hickman loved cooking and baking while Brabham leaned toward reading and writing. "We liked the name Double Trouble for a bakery, and so we've always wanted to open Double Trouble Bakery," Brabham said. "And then after I had my daughter... I was like, 'I really want to open a bookstore,' and I noticed that there wasn't one in New Braunfels... then I was like, 'We could do a cafe and basically be just an all-inclusive thing.' "
The bookstore's focus will be on fantasy and romance titles. "Since I do a lot of reading in both of those categories, I want to be able to talk to my customers about the books that they're looking to purchase," Brabham said. "We actually have plans to have a little collector's corner, too. We have some really cool limited edition first prints of Iron Flame and Fourth Wing, and so we're really excited to bring those in."
The two-story property gives the appearance of having two separate buildings, the Herald-Zeitung wrote, noting that the back half of the property will house the cafe area on its second floor.
Brabham said the bookshop's name encapsulates all three aspects of the store--books, boutique items, and café--and the layout will reflect this. "It kind of almost forces people to see everything. We're gonna have photo ops throughout... so not (only) do we want you to come here and buy things--yeah, sure, absolutely, please--but also just come here and have (an) experience, or have a good time and walk around with your girlfriends and have a coffee."
She added: "A lot of the passion for this came from my love of books, [my sister's] love of coffee, her love of (cafes), like all of our love of things, but what's really the driving factor is setting an example for [my daughter] and showing her that you can have dreams--that they can come true. You can do things that you love, and it's going to be hard work, and you really have to put everything that you have into it, but you can do it."