The store has found success as the first independent bookstore in Grapevine. Lemieux and Walizadeh said their store sells books and provides a third space, or a place separate from home and work, where people can freely gather and socialize.
What’s special about it?
The Talking Animals Books is located at Grapevine’s historic downtown in a building that used to be a bank. A teller’s station is now used as a reading nook for children who visit the store. The walls along the staircase leading to the second floor of the store describe an incident where Bonnie and Clyde’s gang once robbed the bank.
Walizadeh said their bookstore appeals to Grapevine visitors exploring downtown.
“Bookstores tend to do better in more walkable areas,” she said. “We have people who just stumble upon us.”
Walizadeh said their employees also focus on building connections with customers, which helps in deciding how to curate the store’s selection.
Lemieux said their local bookstore also competes with Amazon, which provides quick book deliveries to people’s homes, by providing that authentic and in-person experience.
“Especially after [COVID-19], both of us were very tuned into the fact that people needed a reason to get together,” she said. “That became very central to what we were trying to do, is make a third place for connection.”
The owners organize events like the North Texas book crawl in August for participants to discover other independent bookstores, and a Twilight watch party in October for the 20th anniversary of the book’s release.
Meet the owners
Lemieux and Walizadeh were in the same parent circles for Grapevine-Colleyville ISD when they decided to become business partners. Lemieux said she’s lived in Texas her whole life, and Walizadeh moved here after her husband got a job in Grapevine.
“We’re both in the same season of life. We’re both moms,” Walizadeh said.
While they didn’t know each other directly before opening the bookstore, Lemieux said they both had the same family-friendly values and the same dream to start this business. Lemieux said they didn’t qualify for a business loan, so funding for the bookstore started with the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter.
“We didn’t have investors, neither of us had significant wealth to put into this,” Lemieux said.
The business opened as Grapevine’s first independent bookstore in 2023. Lemieux said she had the background as an English major and a writer and Walizadeh had previous retail experience.
Stay tuned
A second Talking Animals Books is coming to Grapevine in November just a few blocks down from its first location. Walizadeh said the hope is to keep both open for the time being.
“I think [the first] store has more of an opportunity to be geared towards kids,” Walizadeh said. “The other store will be serving wine and coffee and will have a lot more open space.”
While the first location currently hosts book clubs, the second location will provide the space for larger community events, she said. The store is currently holding a second Kickstarter campaign until Oct. 14 in preparation for the new location. Lemieux said campaigns like this are common for independent bookstores, which often have small profit margins.
“Kickstarter is unique in that it is an all-or-nothing thing,” Lemieux said. “If we do not hit our goal, we will not get any of the money we’ve already raised.”
While the expansion wasn’t planned, Walizadeh said the second space was “too perfect to pass up”. The second location will be using the space OG Cellars Winery left after its closure in June. She said the new store is coming whether the Kickstarter succeeds or not.
“We’re really hoping that we make our Kickstarter because otherwise, we’ll be busting out a lot of credit cards again,” Walizadeh said. “We’ve already signed the lease and are remodeling and everything, so it will happen.”
- 103 W. Worth St., Grapevine
- www.talkinganimalbooks.com
