2 Dandelions Bookshop in downtown Brighton welcomes the community into a world of literature that expands beyond the pages of a book.
From weekly story times, book clubs, annual read-a-thons, and more, 2 Dandelions has something to offer everyone. The bookshop first opened in October 2019, with the two owners, Jeri Kay Thomas and Jeanne Blazo, making their mark on the independent bookstore world.
“It’s been percolating for many, many years. We just decided to get serious and investigate and do some research on what it would take,” Blazo said.
Both Thomas and Blazo are retired kindergarten teachers who share a love of reading. That passion is what led them on the journey to opening 2 Dandelions, and along the way, learning that there is more to selling books than simply stacking the shelves.
“We felt like we knew books, particularly children’s books, but there is so much to learn not only about the book selling industry, but business in general,” Thomas said.
With the bookshop entering its sixth year in October, Thomas emphasizes that she and Blazo still have a “growth mindset” and are continuing to learn about the industry as time goes on. With the help of their publishers, sales representatives, and more, Thomas emphasises that they never feel lost even though “the industry is always changing.”
While many components of the bookshop were a learning curve for them: financial, the ordering processes, etc. One thing they knew for sure is that the 2 Dandelions location would be in Brighton, where they have lived for over 30 years. With raising their families, teaching, and being immersed in all that the Brighton community has to offer, they both knew that Brighton was the perfect location for the bookshop.
While both Thomas and Blazo are retired from teaching, they continue to uphold a strong connection with their former students and their families. They both express that the community outreach and support has played a huge part in helping the 2 Dandelions become a success. With the bookshop’s opening being right before the Covid-19 pandemic, the owners had to make a sudden adjustment when the world shut down for quarantine. From online ordering, curbside pickups, and back door pickups, the community helped the bookshop to thrive, even while being six feet apart.
With a few years now passing since the pandemic first hit, and life has been returning to a new normal, 2 Dandelions Bookshop has truly grown in that time. Starting out, the bookshop’s original location was under The White Dress, a bridal boutique at 209 W. Main St. in downtown Brighton. Now, the bookshop is in its own building downtown at 428 W. Main St, and ended up expanding to the building next door.
When it comes to running a bookshop compared to running a classroom, in 2 Dandelions there is found to be a few similarities in addition to opportunities for the owners to redevelop their people skills in an entirely new way. Blazo explains that the ways in which they interacted with children and parents in their classrooms, “follows through with readers.”
“We designed the bookshop, from the beginning, like a classroom,” she said, “You have to be a listener, you have to pay attention to what they [the customers] are saying and what they are buying. Everything you do as a teacher flows into bookselling.”
With there being approximately 80 independent bookstores in Michigan, Thomas explains that “there’s not that competition piece between independent bookstores.” In addition, she highlights that 2 Dandelions Bookshop stands apart, due to the Brighton community.
“These are our readers and we have this collaboration where we are introducing new books and listening to our readers,” Thomas said.
“Everybody just wants everybody to be successful…It’s a very supportive group,” Blazo adds.
2 Dandelions hosts a multitude of events providing opportunities for the community to get involved. The bookshop hosts a weekly storytime on Saturdays at 11 a.m., four book clubs, an annual 36+ hours long readathon in March, and many authors and illustrators events both at the bookshop and off-site, a reading challenge bingo card, scavenger hunts for Brighton school kids over breaks, and Author’s Alley where local and self-published authors get the opportunity to share their works with the local community. In addition, the bookshop takes part in many city-wide events, including Brighton downtown festivals and more.
Being an independent bookstore, 2 Dandelions took part in ‘Independent Bookstore Day’ which occurred on April 25, which included a book hop with other independent bookstores across Michigan.
With the various events and opportunities hosted by the bookshop, members outside the Brighton community are coming to join in and explore all that the bookshop has to offer. Including Tom Daldin from the show “Under The Radar Michigan” on PBS television, where he travels around Michigan featuring people, places, and more. One of those featured places was 2 Dandelions Bookshop.
To the owners and the community, 2 Dandelions Bookshop is a place of wonder and magic that can be felt the moment one steps through the door. Thomas explained that the name itself is the foundation that the bookshop stands upon.
“They [the dandelion flowers] are resilient, and ubiquitous, and stubborn, and just very helpful,” Thomas said, “Some people view it as a weed, but we view it as a wish.”
