The country’s oldest African-American bookstore, 56-year-old Marcus Books, is about to reopen in San Francisco, according to news reports. The store was evicted from its historic landmark building on Fillmore Street in 2014.
The new Marcus Books grew out of a partnership between Karen and Greg Johnson, who own the SF store, and the African American Arts and culture Complex (AAACC) in the Fillmore District of the city.
The bookstore will be located in the first floor lobby of the AAACC's complex. AAACC director Mohammed Soriano-Bilal and Marcus Books's Karen Johnson will share the design plans for the store with the community at an event, to be held at the AAACC, on August 16.
The bookstore’s Oakland location, which opened in 1960, has continued to operate in spite of the financial difficulties posed by the San Francisco store. In the past few years the Oakland store has developed its website to encourage online shopping.
