Downtown Chillicothe welcomes its newest locally-owned business on Friday as Wheatberry Books holds its official grand opening.
The newly established book store is the brain-child of owner & operator, Chelsea Bruning.
"We are an independent book store for independent thinkers," said Bruning. "Wheatberry has created its own atmosphere; it just kind of came together. It is light and airy, but still comfy and cozy. It's a nice retreat; a comfortable place to browse and feel at home."
An avid reader since her childhood, Chelsea says Wheatberry is the culmination of a lifelong dream.
"This is something I've always wanted to do," said Bruning." "My husband and I started talking about it and we realized that if we don't try, we won't know. Sometimes you have to take a chance on a dream."
Chelsea says Wheatberry offers a wide selection of books, both new and used, for every age.
"We have a little bit of everything," said Bruning." "We've got a wall of fiction and a wall of non-fiction, which has a variety of different genres. We've got a small used section, and we've got a children's room with a variety of books, shirts & toys."
Chelsea says they have a few things going on this weekend to celebrate Wheatberry's grand opening.
"We do have a selection of books on sale for Friday and we're going to have cookies available for customers throughout the day. Saturday we have two local authors stopping in. Bob Shoultz will be here from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. to sign copies of his new memoir 'Fatherless', and Donald Ray Pollock will be here from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. signing all three of his books."
Located at 41 S. Paint St., Wheatberry Books is open from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The store is closed on Sunday.
Chelsea is the wife of Matt Bruning, host of the Accurate Heating & Cooling Scoreboard Show on 94 County WKKJ.