MONROE, MI — When Alaina Williamson considered opening a new book lounge, she wanted to make her dad a part of it, so she took his middle name and christened her new business with it.
At 39 South Monroe St., where McGeady’s Town Pub used to be, Archer’s Book Lounge will soon be a bookstore, coffee shop, and cocktail bar rolled into one.
The lounge is Alaina’s brainchild, aided by her husband, Joel. She loves books and got the idea from Pinterest of having a cozy bookstore some day.
“And initially, it was something that we were thinking was still going to be a few years off, once the kids had graduated, and then we could, you know, focus on that,” she said. “And things just kind of fell into place, and here we are a little bit sooner than we thought.”
The idea to make it a lounge as well was partially inspired by places like Flyleaf in Grosse Pointe, which has a similar setup.
“We had the idea beforehand, but it was like, okay, we wanted to see something like this in action,” Joel said.
“And they’re the only other ones that have as much of that hybrid bookstore cocktail feel,” Alaina added.
Archer’s will serve a variety of drinks including cocktails, coffee, mocktails, a few beer options, and wine. When asked how Archer’s differentiates itself from the bars downtown, Alaina said that it’s all about the laid-back atmosphere.
“We’re not expecting people to get loud and rowdy,” she said. “This is going to be a place where people can come to relax and either study or have a work meeting or they could get together with friends, but it’s not going to be that super high energy.”
The lounge will sell new books and the plan is to have 5,000 in stock at any time. The Williamsons plan to utilize all three floors of the property, with the bar, bookshelves, and seating on each floor, and a kids section on the second. There are also plans to host themed events including murder mystery nights, poetry workshops, scavenger hunts, book-to-screen nights, and more.
The couple plans to have the lounge open by September 2026. Before that, though, they still have a lot of work to do, including selling barstools and tables, and ripping up the floors.
“Yeah, we’re excited to get this moving,” Joel said.
The lounge also has a Kickstarter. Anybody wanting to donate can do so here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alainanw/archers-book-lounge.
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe to welcome a new bookstore, coffee shop, and cocktail bar
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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