Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room opened last Friday morning to a bustling crowd of shoppers.
Giovanni’s Room, the nation’s oldest LGBT bookstore, closed in May after owner and co-founder Ed Hermance announced he was retiring, and no buyer was found to take over the business.
Then Philly AIDS Thrift announced last month it would open an upscale-boutique version of its headquarters on Fifth Street in Queen Village. The new store will still offer around 2,000 LGBT-related books.
Manager Alan Chalak said there was a lot of work to do in just two weeks’ time.
“Learning the systems that were in place from the beginning, that took a lot of time. It’s been a lot of fun. Every day has been a new adventure,” he said. “We had to start thinking about what are we going to put in all these places, what was definitely going and what we wanted to hold onto. But once stuff started coming in and we got some volunteers, it all happened really fast.”
Beginning in October, PAT @ Giovanni’s Room will acquire new reading material regularly.
“We are already looking at new releases to order for October/November. We’re hoping to get some calendars in for the new year. Giovanni’s was always the place to go and get LGBTQ calendars, and that is something we want to continue,” Chelak said. “Also, we’ve placed orders to get some brand-new magazines, like Washington Blade, so those should be coming within the next couple days as well.”
Several people queued outside the front door in anticipation of the opening. Among them was Chris Salvador, who purchased a book he had seen in the display window last week.
“I appreciate the fact that they are preserving the building, which has a lot of history with Giovanni’s Room,” Salvador said. “It’s nice to know that it’s still living in a way. I buy a lot of books at PAT. They have a lot of great books and artwork. I think it’s one of their secrets.”
Salvador also volunteers for PAT at its Fifth Street location.
He said he has been looking forward to its expansion to the Pine Street location since the announcement was made.
“I love PAT, it is one of the unique things about Philly that I always really liked. I was so excited when I heard that this was opening and that PAT was expanding closer to the neighborhood here.”
PAT at Giovanni’s Room is open seven days a week. For more information, call 215-923-2960.