By Tara Linderborg-Cordry

Community members and Cal Poly Humboldt students alike gathered outside the new location of Northtown Books in Arcata on Sept. 18 for their grand re-opening. The original location, which had been there since 1965, burned down on Jan. 2, along with other nearby businesses. After eight months of searching for a new location, Northtown Books moved into a shared space at 737 G St. with neighbor Dandar’s Books and Board Games, which also lost its original location in the January fire. 

The line into the store stretched near the end of the block; exciting chatter filled the crowd. Inside, owner Dante DeGinova busily greeted guests who were congratulating him on the re-opening. Patrons packed the newly-stocked aisles, browsing the many sections and conversing among themselves. Long time friend of Northtown Books and previous employee Hedge Enga helped her former colleagues and friends prepare the store for re-opening.

“This is such a community treasure, and I feel really privileged to have been able to be part of bringing it back to life,” Enga said.

As others excitedly browsed the shelves, customers maneuvered through the crowd to make their first purchases at the new location. The line to buy books and other merchandise quickly grew, and stretched towards the back of the store. 

Monika Zerzan is in charge of ordering the children’s books for the store, and has been working with the shop for a long time. Zerzan spoke about her experience working with her colleagues to get the store ready for opening. She described that opening the new store took a lot of time, hard work, and patience from staff and volunteers. 

The new interior of the shop is slightly larger than the previous, with more room between the shelves. The design is familiar, with highlighted books displayed on the ends of the aisles and related texts nearby. Longtime customer Diane DeFord noted that the new store feels a lot like the previous location.

“It’s very similar to the original store in terms of the way it’s set up, which is very welcoming,” DeFord said. “I love that they’re back. I was really sad when it happened but we’re coming back.”

The re-opening of Northtown Books represents a huge milestone for the community after January’s fire. The return of the long-time community gathering place would not be possible without the hard work of the employees, owner, friends and community members.

Tara Linderborg-Cordry is a Journalism student and reporter with the Lumberjack. She is a Humboldt local, and is pursuing a career in Public relations. When she’s not writing, she’s usually at the beach with her dog, Murphy.