Why this writer opened a brick-and-mortar bookstore in the age of Amazon

Opening an independent bookstore was not on my 2025 bingo card and yet Zora’s Place, Evanston, Illinois’ only Black-owned bookstore, will celebrate six months this month. So how did we get here? A dash of delulu, generosity from kind humans on the internet and a bit of astrology.

Let’s start at the beginning. Like many writers and avid readers, I’ve often daydreamed about opening a bookstore (I mean, who among us hasn’t?). In 2019, I found myself on a reading retreat and bookstore book crawl with my book club friends. After visiting Café con Libros, an intersectional feminist bookstore and coffee shop in Brooklyn, New York, I had a sudden realization: this is it. This is my retirement dream.

Initially, the daydream included a tri-level brownstone with a bookstore and coffee shop on the first floor à la Café con Libros; a coworking/event space on the second floor; and a yoga studio on the top floor. Hey, a girl can dream!

As the years went on, I started to feel the “feminine urge” to open a bookstore and several things happened in quick succession:

• Call & Response, an independent bookstore in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood exclusively carrying authors of colors, opened in spring 2024. The owner, Courtney, is fabulous and the space is warm and welcoming. I have the good fortune of moderating a few author talks there, as well as hosting my own. However, the store is 45 minutes from where I live in Evanston on a good day, so I began to desire a piece of this book paradise closer to home.
• Grand Gesture Books, Portland, Oregon’s first romance-only bookstore, opened to much fanfare in fall 2024. The owner, Katherine Morgan, and I had been Twitter friends for quite some time. She mentioned that my book, Stop Waiting for Perfect, encouraged her to pursue her dream of opening a bookstore. She launched a GoFundMe, hosted a few pop-ups, and the rest is literary history. If she did it, I thought, then maybe I can, too.
• The AUX Wellness Collective opens in Evanston, Illinois. As the name suggests, it’s a hub full of wellness practitioners and better yet, they’re all Black-owned businesses. I was in talks with the owner about teaching yoga classes there when I inquired about a pop-up space for an idea I had. Lo and behold, she had an empty retail space that would be perfect for a bookstore. As soon as she rolled open the barn door to the space, I knew it was The One. I could see it clearly: a burnt orange sofa, books by Black women authors, artwork by Black women artists on the walls, a children’s corner full of diverse books and gift items by Black woman-owned businesses. 

Now, how was I going to fund it? 

I was familiar with the standard crowdfunding platforms, such as GoFundMe and Kickstarter, but had heard you only receive the money if you reach your goal. I also looked into iFundWomen, but found myself overthinking the rewards component.

Then in June 2025 I read a newsletter by Lex Roman about how L.A. Taco’s crowdfunding campaign on Givebutter had quickly surpassed their initial goal of $25,000 to support their independent media platform. Up until that point, I’d assumed Givebutter was only for nonprofits, but as Lex stated in their newsletter that’s not the case. Givebutter seemed like a lower lift compared to iFundWomen, so I launched the campaign for Zora’s Place two days later and then announced it in my weekly newsletter that Wednesday (with Lex’s encouragement). And that Saturday I was hosting our first pop-up event at the local library’s CROWN Act event. The response was overwhelming in the best possible way. Within one week, we were already 25% toward our goal of $25,000. 

Now here’s where the astrology comes in. As an avid CHANI app user, I knew that week of June 21 was going to be a big one. In her weekly newsletter, Chani wrote:

“Big dreamers to the front. This week’s New Moon and Jupiter cazimi are this year’s top moments for envisioning what’s possible — we are talking about the best astro available for new beginnings. And because they’re both taking place in the sign of Cancer, tapping into your inner mama bear wisdom is the power move of choice. Let radical care be your guide and make fierce protection your goal. It’s a r/evolutionary skill to dream beyond what the world presents as options. Refuse to limit yourself. It’s time to plant seeds for the just, abundant, and nourishing future you want to co-create. Softness is our strength. Put your heart on the picket line.”

You don’t have to tell me twice.

This news (call to action?) also reminded me of a birth chart reading I had done last year (I’m a Scorpio Sun, Libra Rising and Aquarius Moon, in case you’re wondering). The astrologer said she saw me surrounded by books. Or more accurately, she mentioned “A Jewish Rabbi In a Tiny Room Full of Manuscripts and Books, Performing His Duty.” 

At the time, I’d assumed she meant surrounded by books I had written. But then I started thinking, what if it’s quite literally surrounded by books as in a bookstore?! 🤯🤯🤯

In quick succession, we hosted a few pop-up storytimes with nothing but the burnt orange sofa and books I’d borrowed from the library and my daughter’s personal collection. If flying the plane as you’re building it were a person, it would be me (much to my husband’s chagrin).

I quickly threw together a quick logo in Canva and posted a “coming soon” pic on Instagram the same day I launched the crowdfunding campaign and it took on a life of its own. We went viral when Because of Them, a popular account about Black history and culture, posted about us.

From that came the media hits: ABC 7, Chicago Sun-Times, Evanston RoundTable, The Daily Northwestern and more—including ELLE Côte d'Ivoire! And I thought, “okay, we’re really doing this.”

We hosted a soft opening on Sept. 6 and our grand opening on Sept. 20 and haven’t looked back. Six months later, I’m still trying to figure out how bookstores make money, but I think it’s safe to say it’s not from books, which historically have razor-thin margins.

So how am I keeping the lights on, both at home and at the bookstore? Well, for starters I bartered my way into a tiered-lease agreement for the bookstore, which had me doing email marketing for the collective and teaching a weekly yoga class in exchange for free rent for the first three months. Now we’re up to $750/month, which still feels doable. We average about $3,000 in sales per month; however, a lot of that is put right back into inventory for both books and sideline items (aka the cute stickers and bookmarks, etc. you see at the cash register as well as puzzles, candles, journals…basically anything besides books).

Bulk book orders from neighboring schools and universities have been a big boon, as was the inaugural Chicagoland Independent Bookstore holiday trolley we participated in last year. January, like other retailers had warned me, was ridiculously slow. It also doesn’t help that our store is inside of a hub that’s off the beaten path, so foot traffic is basically nonexistent. That combined with Chicago’s notoriously cold winter is a recipe for low sales.

Thankfully, I’ve had several bookseller mentors along the way who’ve talked me off proverbial cliffs, answered my random questions and encouraged me to stand up for myself. Or, as one of them put it, “You’re going to people-please your way out of business before 2027.” And…she’s not wrong.

For some reason, running a brick-and-mortar has challenged my people-pleasing tendencies in a way that being a full-time freelancer had not and it’s definitely something that has become a recurring theme in my therapy sessions. It is literally impossible to say “yes” to everyone who comes into the store and wants us to carry their book—my standards are high and our space is small, so everything is intentional and thoughtfully curated with our mission in mind. 

I should also share that I’m still working as an author and journalist while running the store (did I mention I’m the only employee?). And I recently picked up a part-time ghostwriting gig to help with household expenses so that bookstore revenue is cycled back into the store instead of trying to support itself and our family.

Other ways we make money:

• We earn commission on sales through our Bookshop.org storefront. The company also generously provides a profit pool to all participating bookstores, which is a nice bonus (our first payout was $781! Huzzah!). They’ve also been incredibly supportive of us on social media as well, which has generated interest. It’s also a great way for people to support us who don’t live nearby.
• We also earn commission on audiobooks through our Libro.fm storefront.
• This is in the midst of an overhaul, but we also have merch available on Bonfire! Although honestly this hasn’t been the most lucrative thus far…thus the overhaul.
• Private event rentals. We’ve hosted book clubs and networking events within our space. We’ve also served as the backdrop for a family photo shoot and I can’t wait for our first wedding reception this spring.

I’m also toying with the idea of hosting writing workshops, writers’ circles, retreats, a rotating artist residency and much more. But first, I need to make it to one year and figure out how to become profitable. 

In a world full of Amazon and Barnes & Nobles, it’s no secret that independent bookstores can’t survive on book sales alone. Thankfully, running an independent bookstore isn’t just about the sales. It’s about community, creativity and collective care. It’s a place where readers can meet authors, neighbors can meet each other and stories become a starting point for conversation.

The days are long, the learning curve is steep and yet this has been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling jobs I’ve ever done. I don’t know yet if opening a bookstore was the most logical business decision I’ve ever made. In fact, most days I know it wasn’t.

But creative entrepreneurs don’t build things because they make sense on a spreadsheet (again, much to my husband’s chagrin). We build them because we can see the possibility of something that doesn’t exist yet and we’re stubborn enough to try anyway.

Zora’s Place started as a daydream, a “what if…?” that I followed through on. Six months later, it’s become so much bigger than that and so much bigger than me. It’s a gathering space for readers, writers and neighbors who want to see themselves reflected on the shelves.

The business model is still evolving. The margins are still thin. And I’m still learning something new every single day.

But every time a little Black girl walks in and stands in awe of a wall of books with characters who look like her, or when someone tells me they feel like they’ve finally found their bookstore, I’m reminded why physical spaces like these matter.

Sometimes the most radical thing a creative entrepreneur can do is build a place where people can gather, dream and imagine new possibilities together. And for me, that place just so happens to be this bookstore.

L'Oreal Thompson Payton is an author, journalist and founder of Zora's Place, a Black feminist bookstore and community space in Evanston, Illinois. Learn more on her website and her Instagram.