Readers and book lovers alike filtered in and out of Boone’s newest business July 14, browsing the store’s brightly painted shelves in search of their next read.
Huzzah Books, located at 114 Clement St., opened at noon and is Boone’s only business exclusively dedicated to used books. After having to temporarily close and relocate to a new location, Huzzah Books now features 1,800 square feet of store space.
Owner Jason Wallace said the bookstore carries a diverse inventory. While Huzzah Books doesn’t have a focus on a certain subject or genre, he said he curates toward more obscure or underappreciated literature compared to mainstream picks.
“We’re really concerned with substance, so the quality of literature, whether it’s nonfiction or fiction, poetry or drama,” he said.
Jason Wallace comes from an art background, having completed his undergraduate studies at Pratt Institute in New York, and said he approaches the curation of his inventory from an artistic perspective, allowing a space for expression.
Karen Wallace attended the opening to support Jason Wallace, her son, for Huzzah’s first day. She said Huzzah’s move to its new location has been a “passion project” that involved the participation of many different people.
Karen Wallace said her son has been a long-time lover of books, and even sold some book inventory while he lived in New York. When he moved to Boone, she said he decided to open up a bookstore of his own.
“I’m really excited because our books are so important,” she said. “As Jason would say, it’s about disseminating information to the world, and so hopefully there will be a lot of visitors and a lot of happy people.”
The majority of Huzzah’s inventory is used, coming from a combination of donations, purchases and books Jason Wallace happens to come across, but the bookstore owner said he carries a small selection of new books too.
Huzzah Books offers store credit to customers wanting to trade in their books at the same value Huzzah would sell the book.
“So for example, if you gave us three books and we would sell them all for $10 a piece, then you’d have $30 in store credit,” he said. “So, in that way, it’s pretty much one to one — if you give a book, you get a book of the equal value.”
Customers wishing to trade books can walk in with small quantities of books that could fit into one small box or milk crate and receive store credit the same day. For larger quantities of books, Jason Wallace said customers can call and schedule an appointment and bring their books in.
Huzzah also offers cash in exchange for books, typically ranging from 25 cents to a dollar per book, or, in some cases, up to 25% of the sale price for more expensive or rare books, Jason Wallace said.
Huzzah was previously located on King Street in Awesome Space for almost two years and shared a building with several other local businesses. When Jason Wallace said his landlord informed him he would need to find a new location to house his bookstore, he began his search.
Eventually, he found a space next to Parallel Brewing Company and worked with the business to acquire the space. After signing the lease, Jason Wallace said it took around three months to prepare the store for its opening.
Hank Marshall was also at Huzzah Book’s opening day and said he helped design and build the space, as well as its previous King Street location.
Marshall said the process took several months worth of planning, as he and Jason Wallace wanted to achieve a specific look and feel for the space, which he described as “mannerist” and “strange.” He said the primary focus of the store is the arch, separating the store into different sections and providing a unique atmosphere to the space.
“The hope was to sort of make it feel like a portal to somewhere else,” he said.
Marshall used a modular shelving system to complete the space, which had to be built off site and brought in to be installed. The bright red accents were a last minute decision, he said, that he is very happy with.
Additionally, the space has an open doorway that allows customers of Parallel to flow into the bookstore, and vice versa, allowing for a more connected environment.
Caleb Hignite works at Noble Kava next to Huzzah’s new location and stopped by on the store’s first day with his coworkers to explore the inventory.
“We’re familiar with these folks that have been building this up and brought this bookstore back to life,” he said.
Hignite said he believes Huzzah’s new and expanded location provides greater access and opportunities for locals to access reading and literature.
“It’s so important that an area like this has a book store, because there was Foggy Pine,” he said.
Hignite said right around Hurricane Helene, he felt there was a lack of literature available to the public, which he said is a vital part of the community.
“In a society, it’s so important to have knowledge and philosophy and information and storytelling, and just all of the wonderful things that come with reading books,” he said.
As of now, Jason Wallace said Huzzah will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. He said he hopes to offer more services in the near future, such as drip coffee and tea, and wants to incorporate community-focused events into his business, such as readings, movie screenings and music events.
