Readers love nothing more than books, and that love may only be rivaled by bookstores.

Augusta has a handful of bookstores, but perhaps not as many as local book lovers would like.  

Hoping to fill that gap, Zack and Kenley Krajewsky opened their family-owned bookshop, Walls of Books, in May at 102 Second Avenue in Grovetown.

Zack’s parents five other Walls of Books locations across Georgia and, according to Kenley, have been eager to open their sixth location in Grovetown.

Kenley said she is glad to work at the store after previously being a stay-at-home mom while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in finance. She has especially enjoyed seeing customers’ enthusiasm for reading.

Although school left her feeling burnt out on reading, Kenley wants to get back into it. Her husband Zach is the big reader in their family, she explained.

Zach’s current favorite book series is Dungeon Crawler Carl, which is featured right at the first shelf on the front desk.

“We have a lot of old books, too,” Kenley said, gesturing around the store. She tries to introduce customers to older books that are similar to titles they already like.

Painted white walls and numerous sections make the store feel more open and bright than it appears from the outside. The atmosphere is relaxed and warm, with music playing softly from a Bluetooth speaker.

A large desk sits at the front of the store, surrounded by featured books and advertisements supporting other local Augusta businesses.

Shelves of books line entire walls and fill the space, storing everything from older, well-worn paperbacks to more recognizable and recent titles. In the back of the store, a separate room for children’s books is illuminated by warm lighting.

This design was intentional, according to Kenley, who wanted the store to be very light, happy, and relaxed.

 “I just want everyone who comes in the store to be comfortable and to feel welcome,” said Kenley.

Kenley expressed that she and her husband have more ideas that require a larger space, such as reading nooks.

The small bookshop can only accommodate so many people at a time, which rarely is a major problem. The smaller space makes the store feel more intimate.

However, the size of Walls of Books made things tricky during the store’s trivia night on Thursday, Aug. 27. Kenley reported that she had to rent a tent so people could gather outside the store to accommodate the large crowd.  

Nonetheless, the event was a great success. Kenley was glad to see so many people taking an interest in the store, and was a little surprised by how often customers said they had just heard about it, despite the store opening earlier this year.

Walls of Books has a different business model than traditional bookstores and is more similar to a thrift bookstore such as Second & Charles.

According to Kenley, their emphasis is on community, affordability, and bringing people back to “holding actual books”. By making physical books more affordable, they hope to decentralize reading from technology.

As an example, Kenley pulled a hardcover from a shelf behind her and showed the price: just over $13. She said it was the most expensive hardcover in the store, and most of the books in the store were paperback anyways.

Customers can also purchase books and later trade them back in. Walls of Books locations offer store credit for trade-ins, which customers can utilize to reduce the already-low cost of their purchases.

The couple are currently working on creating an online inventory that will allow customers to browse the store’s selection before visiting in person.

Contact Kailey Spencer at kaispencer@augusta.edu.