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| Thunder Road has closed its current store while it prepares for the move. | |
Thunder Road Books in Spring Lake, N.J., has closed its storefront while it moves into a new, larger space several doors down in the same building.
Store manager Katherine Czyzewski reported that the new space is roughly double the size of Thunder Road's original home, and she and the bookstore team expect to hold a grand reopening celebration in the new storefront this spring.
Czyzewski noted that while all of Thunder Road's inventory offerings will be expanded, the store's children's section will see the biggest change. The section will be larger, with Czyzewski estimating that it will span roughly half the new space, and it will include a reading area where students can hang out and work after school.
Recalling the bookstore's debut in 2021, Czyzewski said that if she and store owner Basil Iwanyk "knew then what we know now," they would have given more space to the children's section. It quickly became clear that the section should have been larger, especially once "storytimes took off."
On the subject of events, Czyzewski explained that currently, the store partners with a local theater for large-scale events, because anything held in-store is "bursting at the seams." In the new space, she and the team will be able to host events with up to 100 attendees, and having tables and displays that are all movable is one of the team's "big goals."
The move came about thanks to the owners of a furniture store in the same building, who were looking not to retire but to downsize. They approached Iwanyk about switching leases, and the process began officially this month.
Regarding the move, Czyzewski acknowledged there's "always a risk of doing something new," but the community has embraced and gotten behind the bookstore in a way that is "very moving for us." The team has been listening to what the community needs for the past few years, and when the new space is open, "it will be everything we didn't know we needed at the time."
Czyzewski also thanked all of the independent booksellers who have offered mentorship and assistance over the years: "We wouldn't be doing what we're doing without them."