New independent bookstore opens in east Charlotte
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Troubadour Booksellers owner Scott Tynes-Miller tells Axios he's always been an "avid reader." Now he has his own bookshop. Photo: Ashley Mahoney/Axios
Troubadour Booksellers, a new independent bookstore, recently opened in east Charlotte.
Why it matters: Indie bookstores, which face stiff online competition from giants like Amazon, provide a community gathering space for everything from author events and book clubs to kids learning to read.
- That's the vibe Scott Tynes-Miller envisions for his new shop. He describes it as a "community living room."
- He's an east Charlotte resident with his wife, Three Bone Theatre co-founder Robin Tynes-Miller, and their 3-year-old daughter, Nora.
Driving the news: Troubadour Booksellers' grand opening is Saturday, Oct. 19, from 11am-8pm. It's currently in its soft-opening phase and it's open from 11am-8pm Tuesday-Saturday, noon-5pm on Sunday and closed Monday.
- Grand opening customers will get 10% off their first book purchased.
- On the grand opening day, there will be multiple readings, including a children's story time with Charlotte Mecklenburg Library children's librarian Adam Montague, 2pm spooky story time (it's appropriate for little ones) with Lona Bartlett and a 4pm poetry reading and book signing with Junious 'Jay' Ward, Charlotte's inaugural poet laureate.
What to expect: New books line the shelves in the roughly 1,600-square-foot space. Most books are critically acclaimed adult fiction (yes, you'll find plenty of Kristin Hannah), but there are also several other genres.
- The shop also sells toys for kids, shirts, hoodies, canvas totes, hats, journals, pens, bookmarks, puzzles and other gifts, like Modern Goldfish earrings, made by Kenna Covington, Tynes-Miller's neighbor.
- There are also couches, tables and chairs.
If you go: Troubadour Booksellers is in Sardis Crossing at 1721-7C Sardis Road North near New Zealand Cafe. Tynes-Miller suggests putting your name in for a table and stopping by the bookstore while you wait.
Zoom out: Tynes-Miller, who moved to Charlotte in 2011, grew up in central New York in a town of around 500 people called Newport. There wasn't an independent bookstore around. Opening his own was a pipe dream.
- He visited Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino, Calif., in 2019 and the seed for actually opening his own bookstore began to take shape. Then the pandemic hit.
- "We were all reevaluating our lives," Tynes-Miller says of the pandemic days. As he started discussing it with Robin more, the idea for Troubadour Booksellers took shape.
- In August, he left Children's Theatre of Charlotte, where he spent more than a decade (you've probably seen him on stage).
- Now Troubadour Booksellers is his full-time focus.
Tynes-Miller's favorite books:
- "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
- "Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
- "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver
- "Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel
- "Salvage the Bones" by Jesmyn Ward
Take a look around.
