How these Utah sisters went from a mobile bookstore to a storefront in 3 months

06/27/2024 08:00 AM

Back in March, two Utah County sisters who created a mobile bookstore said their "ultimate goal" was to own a storefront together.

Now, that goal is becoming a reality.

As Randi Rose and Kayleigh Dixon look around their new store — Book Box Bookshop — a week ahead of their grand opening, they are ecstatic and tired. The store is located at 58 E. 12300 South in Draper — in the Draper Crossing shopping district.

"We had that conversation of, like, 'Are we really going to do this? Because if so, let's do it,' Rose said. "There's a need in this specific area. Because there's no bookstores between Spanish Fork and Salt Lake. … We kind of just knew that this was the spot. We want it to be in this shop specifically."

The Book Box Bookshop will be the only indie bookstore in the Draper area. Other indie bookstores in the vicinity include Poppy Books & Gifts in Spanish Fork, Mosaics in Provo and The Printed Garden in Sandy. That location choice is intentional on the part of the sisters.

"We went on a date for Kayleigh's birthday, a tour around Utah to all the bookstores," Rose said. "We drove an hour from Spanish Fork to Salt Lake and all the way down there, we were like 'There are no bookstores. We need an indie bookstore.'"

The Draper location, Rose said, will also allow the sisters to maintain their customer base from Lehi. Dixon added that people have reached out to express their excitement for the Draper location.

"I couldn't be more happy with the location that we landed. It really hits a niche where it's needed," Dixon said.

One aspect of the original Book Box that translates over to the shop is the DIY aspects the sisters brainstormed. The store is an explosion of color, with each wall painted differently: yellow, blue, pink, orange and green.

Rose said the goal was to play to the '90s retro vibe — to make it fun and exciting.

The IKEA white Billy bookshelves, immediately recognizable by a book enthusiast, only make the colors — of the walls and the book covers — stand out even more. There are lime green light fixtures. In their biggest book section — romance — there are a handful of black shelves for "dark romance" novels.

A mural in the store was painted by artist Katelin Jensen from the sister's hometown, Richfield.

"This isn't a house, you're going to live in every day," Dixon said. "This is somewhere you come to have a good time."

Their families and husbands also helped build all the bookshelves, which carry such genres as classics, romance, horror, thriller, fantasy, science fiction, nonfiction, children's and middle grade books.

"We hand-selected all of the covers for the classics," Rose said. "We did try and select a lot of indie authors." There's also loads of bookish merch — from tote bags to notebooks and pens.

As for the mobile Book Box, Rose said it will stay at the Traverse Mountain Outlets in Lehi through the end of the year, and after that, they're not sure, but it will stay in Utah for the foreseeable future.

The store will hold a ticketed "pre-grand opening" celebration on Friday, from 5 to 8 p.m. with local women-owned businesses providing bookish micro tattoos, bonded bracelets, piercings and chocolate-covered strawberries. Lyla Sage, a Utah romance author, will also be there.

On Saturday, at 10 a.m., there will be a ribbon cutting to celebrate the grand opening. The store will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Rose said they want their store to feel similar to the Book Box, like a book club where anyone can come in.

"Seeing people in here, happy and loving it [in] something we created is going to be so big," Dixon said. "The people that come to Book Box are the best part, and I cannot wait for them to see it."