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Local bookworms have a new place to browse, thanks to the Feb. 1 opening of Fireside Books and More, an independent, general-interest bookshop in downtown Redwood City.
Owners and Redwood City residents Andrew Johnson and Taylor Kubota said they hope Fireside will become a part of their hometown’s fabric. The name of the store is an homage to one in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where Johnson grew up.
“It was my favorite place in the world,” he said, recalling his childhood “perfect day” consisting of lunch, a sweet treat and a visit to the bookshop.
“That’s what I want to be for Redwood City. I want people to come down here, I want them to eat at one of our great restaurants, I want them to get a scoop of ice cream, and I want them to come to the bookstore. I want to feel part of the community in that way.”
Fireside is housed in a 2,104-square-foot space on Broadway near the Caltrain station, formerly home to an electronics repair shop and a marketing agency. In addition to books, the new shop also features cards, stickers, gifts and goods by local makers, such as birdhouses by LeighLee’s Garden, which are made in Half Moon Bay, and prints and jewelry by Redwood City’s own Wandergrove.
Although they’re lifelong bookstore fans, neither Johnson nor Kubota have worked in the book business before, and they appreciate the help they’ve gotten along the way.
“We have a lot to learn,” Johnson said. “One of the really really cool things about this industry that I didn’t know before we got started is just how gracious and welcoming it is. We’ve had so much support from people,” including getting invaluable advice and tips from folks at Kepler’s in Menlo Park and the Peninsula Book Collaborative in Daly City, as well as from fellow downtown Redwood City retailers such as Little Green – A Plant Bar.
Fireside has been soliciting book recommendations from fellow downtown businesses, as well as from family and friends, some of whom came to help with preparations for the shop. In fact, Johnson and Kubota, who’ve been a couple for a decade and who live nearby, decided to get married right in the bookstore while their out-of-town loved ones were there.
“We’re making it official. We own a bookstore together so we may as well,” Johnson joked.
The very first book placed on Fireside’s shelves was a novel by fantasy author Brian McClellan, Johnson’s friend since seventh grade and the best man at his bookshop wedding. McClellan likely won’t be the only writer to visit – in addition to selling books and gifts, Fireside plans to start holding in-store author events, storytimes for kids, book clubs and more.
“Assuming we get our heads above water here in the next couple weeks, we hope to have story time on the weekends and then we’d love to have authors come through and give talks,” Johnson said. “We really hope that would be one more way to bring the community together. Hopefully people get excited about that stuff.”
Fireside’s logo, designed by Oakland’s Molly McCoy, depicts a pair of stripey cats with a row of books between them. Those two felines represent Johnson and Kubota’s own cats, Merry and Pippin (who have appropriate literary names for being part of a bookstore family). There may be a bookstore cat or two in Fireside’s future – provided the right cat is interested in the job. Merry and Pippin may be too shy (although Merry has potential), but Kubota and Johnson have a neighborhood cat called Bonnie that they think would enjoy the experience.
“We hope Bonnie can make it in here with us. She’s quite a little personality. I think she’d be a little more suited for the space,” Johnson said.
“We don’t know until we try so … it might take a lot of cats,” Kubota laughed.
For now, Johnson is pretty much the sole staff member and the main force behind Fireside, having left his previous career in the medical technology industry.
“That was a nice job, it filled a lot of needs for us, but I kinda wanted to change gears and maybe do something a little more rooted in the area,” he said. He’s mindful of the risk involved in starting up a retail business, noting that “the economics of that are pretty challenging,” but feels inspired by the downtown Redwood City scene.
Kubota works at Stanford University but will likely be spending plenty of her free time helping at the store as well. She grew up in the North Bay and counts iconic indie chain Copperfield’s Books, which has locations in Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties and has had bookstore cats of its own, as among her inspirations.
Fireside stocks exclusively new books, as Johnson and Kubota are mindful that downtown Redwood City already offers second-hand books for sale at several places, including Encore Books on the Square and at the library.
“We don’t want to step on any toes there,” Johnson said. “One of the things that’s really important to us is, sort of, fitting into the community here. People ask us all the time, ‘Are you going to sell coffee?’ We’re on the same block as Baires and Mademoiselle Collette. We don’t think that we need to sell coffee.”
However, “People will be allowed to bring their coffee! That is welcome. If they want to bring me a coffee, also great,” Kubota joked.
Their goal is to create an atmosphere in which people feel at home, including by offering plenty of comfy nooks and seating options and, as the name suggests, a cozy fireplace feature.
“Come in, hang out with us for a little while,” Johnson said. “Sit down and read a book and put it back on the shelf; that’s OK.”
Fireside Books and More, 2421 Broadway St., Redwood City; Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Instagram: @fireside.rwc.
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