Chapter 2 Books in Hudson, Wisconsin, a Twin Cities suburb, isn’t closing its doors this weekend after all. Co-owners Brian and Sue Roegge signed a lease on Tuesday on a 1,200-square-foot retail space in Hudson’s Star Observer Building, up the block and around the corner from the 900-square-foot retail space on Hudson’s main street that they were ordered by the building’s new owner to vacate by Sunday. While the new space is on a side street, Sue said, there are several popular destination retailers on the same block, including Knokes Chocolates, which is two doors down.
“Lots of Hudson residents have offered to help us move this weekend and some people are also lending us dollies,” Sue said, explaining that finding a new space for the three-year-old bookstore in a town that has very few commercial vacancies was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Brian was driving by the building shortly after the landlord had put up a sign advertising a vacancy.
Although Chapter 2 has not yet scheduled a firm date to re-open in its new space, the co-owners hope to re-open by Tuesday. The same day that Chapter 2 Books signed the lease on the new space, Sue received a phone call from Candlewick Press, asking if the store would participate in the debut Indies First Storytime day on May 17 by hosting National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Kate DiCamillo, who lives in Minneapolis. It will be DiCamillo’s first visit to Chapter 2 Books.
