Rebecca Brien of Downtown Pittsfield Inc., left, joins Emma and Laurie Lenski for the ribbon cutting on their independent bookstore on North Street.

The readery is located at 314 North St., which previously hosted a salon.

The Lenskis are looking to collaborate with other small busineses, such as hosting some of the Plant Connector's Refillery items and a book club with Hot Plate Brewery.

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Laurie and Emma Lenski saw a need for a bookstore downtown.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A new bookstore has filled a hole in the downtown area.

Indie Readery and Records held its grand opening on Thursday with a ribbon-cutting at its location at 314 North St.

Partners and now co-owners Emma and Laurie Lenski decided to open the bookstore after seeing a need for one in the area. It also offers records and gifts.

"I mean, there was totally a void on North Street for a bookstore. Like, you know, there's a lot in South County, some in North County, and then Barnes and Noble, which is almost impossible to get to. And so, yeah, we saw a need in the community. We were like, let's do it, let's open a bookstore," Laurie said.

The store also aims to serve as a community hub with inclusive and social justice books and gifts.

"We have a social justice kind of lens for the store and a lot of progressive gifts. And we're hoping to have it be kind of a third space for people to come in and be cozy and spend some time," said Emma.

"We got a lot of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, body positive stuff. We want people to come in and feel represented and find themselves some place in here. We very meticulously curated a lot of the stuff, we want people to come in and feel comfortable, see themselves," Laurie said.

The two also plan to host events and collaborate with other local businesses like North Adams' Plant Connector, which will have its Refillery of eco-friendly household essentials.

"We're connecting with the Plant Connector there and collaborating, and we're going to co-host some events with Hot Plate as well, and Wander and drag story hour and just trying to kind of bring everything together in one place," Emma said.

The two got the keys in May and started working on the space.

"So I worked in construction, like home renovations. I've been a painter for like, 25 years, and I was just ready for something new, something to, you know, slow down, stop abusing my body," Laurie said.

It was formerly a salon and Laurie, who previously worked in home renovations, helped build the space into what it is today.

"There were chairs here and in between those chairs were these walls, these glass blocks, like those ones. It was a hair salon, so there was some plumbing, there was a lot of stuff going on. So that took a couple of months to do," Emma said.

Emma came from a family that loves books and had the dream of opening a bookstore like her grandfather did.

"My grandfather wanted to open a bookstore, and my aunt wanted to open a bookstore, and he had essentially what could have been a bookstore in his basement, but never actually operated a bookstore. And so that's been a long standing dream of mine," Emma said.

They also plan to host events in coordination with Hot Plate Brewery and their book club events.

"Hot Plate has been hosting a book club for a while at their location, and we're going to help support the book club by offering physical copies here that people can buy of the books, and then maybe hosting something here as well," Emma said.

They will also showcase a local artist and have their artwork on their wall for a couple months, currently they have Autumn Phoenix's photography on their walls for sale and Indie Readery and Records will not take a commission.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Thursday, and Friday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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