Ark City’s longest-running bookstore is announcing the next chapter in its story: McDonald’s Used Books will be re-branding and moving to a new location this month.
Starting March 1, the newly renamed Blue Geranium Books and Gifts will be located at 110 S. Summit St. Suite B in downtown Ark City. The bookstore will remain a member of the Arkansas City Chamber of Commerce.
This storefront, part of the Burford Commercial Building, previously was home to the Yoga Synergy studio.
“I’m so excited to announce my store’s new name and location,” said proprietor Kayleigh Lawson in a press release.
Since Lawson took over ownership of the bookstore in 2018, she has been working to expand the store’s offerings.
“We now sell a variety of locally made jewelry, candles and art, as well as a whole new line of gift items and literature-inspired soaps, created by Wild Ivy, LLC,” Lawson said. “I hope to expand our product lines even more in the future.”
There are also plans in the works to digitize the store’s inventory and membership accounts.
“We get a lot of questions about what titles and authors we have in stock,” Lawson said. “The hope is that, by digitizing, we can offer superior customer service.”
She cautions that the store environment could be a little hectic for the next couple of weeks as the move takes place.
“We are planning on keeping the store open as much as possible, but we will be closed the week of Feb. 24-28 in order to get everything set up in the new storefront,” Lawson said. “We intend to reopen for business March 1.”
Lawson asks that loyal customers be patient as the store makes this exciting transition.
“Customers who want to keep up with all of the coming changes should follow us on social media,” she said. “We’re on Facebook and Instagram, @bluegeraniumbooks. Or sign up for our newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dsZu4P.”
Blue Geranium’s store hours will remain 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The store can be contacted at (620) 660-5963 or contact@bluegeraniumbooks.com. A new website also will be launched soon.
