The godfather of Upshur Street is stepping away from the eponymous bookstore, which will remain open with a new name and owner.

This shift comes shortly after D.C. restaurateur and businessman Paul Ruppert announced the closure of nearby Slim’s Diner, though Ruppert says that he’s not “stepping back [from Upshur Street] so much as looking to bring on people who have new energy. It’s important for small businesses to have owners who are able to devote a signify amount of time to the business.”

Ruppert has certainly found that in Hannah Oliver Depp, the new owner of what will be christened Loyalty Books. Ruppert, who opened the store in 2014, will stay on as an adviser. The change was first reported by Petworth News. Depp and Ruppert teamed up to open a pop-up bookstore in Silver Spring in the fall, and Depp says she is still looking for a permanent home for that Maryland outpost.

In the meantime, she has temporarily closed the Upshur Street location to remodel and institute some changes. One major work of construction will be tearing down the wall between the bookstore and The Reading Room at Petworth Citizen, the next-door establishment owned by Ruppert. The vision is that, if people arrive for the popular weekend Literary Cocktails series, they’ll be able to wander the bookstore as well. “We’re breaking down physically and metaphorically the walls between The Reading Room and the bookstore,” Depp says, though there will still be the option of a door so that patrons can continue to rent out The Reading Room for private events.

Loyalty Books’ reopening is slated for early February, at which time Depp says there will be new book clubs, a loyalty program for customers, and fresh inventory. In particular, there will be more “diverse literature by and for people of color and queer stories—we’re making sure we’re feeding the community voices that look like them.” There will also be more children’s books and an increased focus on kid’s programming, including moving their books to the front of the shop and creating a reading area for them.

Depp, who began her bookselling career at Politics and Prose, says that for the adult section, she wants to “create a really beautiful area of exploration,” including more gift items and card offerings, and books displayed with their covers facing out rather than shelved spines. “I’m less interested in traditional categorization of books,” she says. “We want to help guide people to find something they didn’t know they needed.”

Loyalty Books will be exploring innovative ways to do author events, like author brunches or participatory readings, to find ways “to draw the book out into everyday life” and create “new revenue streams for the bookstore that don’t alienate the community,” says Depp.

She sees the evolution of the bookstore as one mirror for the way the “Petworth and Upshur Street in particular are constantly evolving and pivoting to meet the community’s need. I’m excited for changes coming to Upshur Street. It’s not easy but it’s insanely rewarding.”

Another change coming to Upshur Street this weekend is the opening of new flower shop She Loves Me, which will house arts space The Lemon Collective upstairs. Ruppert says that the spaces that previously held now-shuttered restaurants Ruta del Vino and Hank’s Cocktail Bar are currently in negotiations for new businesses to come in.

“I think Upshur Street is at a transition point,” Ruppert says. “I don’t think this is a neat tidy thing you tie up in a bow.”

Previously:
Slim’s Diner Is Closing, But Restaurateur Paul Ruppert Isn’t Giving Up On Upshur Street
With Recent Closures, Is Upshur Street In Trouble?