Stacks Book Club is a coffee shop and bookstore that has been open north of Tucson in Oro Valley for around four months. This new business is open every day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and has grown in popularity amongst all ages and demographics.
Crispin Jeffrey-Franco and his wife, Lizzy Jeffrey-Franco, opened this book bar with their main focus —outside of books — on bringing locally produced products into their store. The couple had seen book bars in many of the places they lived in and visited, so they wanted to bring that to the Tucson area.
“That was something that we were really missing was a bookstore that you could come in, hang out, grab coffee, sit and meet with people, just generally be in all day long if you wanted to,” Crispin Jeffrey-Franco said.
The store’s menu is full of food and beverage items from local businesses, such Cal’s Bakeshop, Prep & Pastry, and Breadsmith.
“We have sandwiches and desserts from Flora’s Market down by the university. Our coffee is roasted by Yellow Brick Coffee, which is a local Tucson roaster. Our tea is from iTea, which is a Tucson company. All of our wine is from Arizona Vineyards. Our beers from the state of Arizona,” Crispin Jeffrey-Franco said.
With this anew business, the couple is beginning to expand their event plans. In the past, they had a story time for kids on a Saturday morning and then a poetry night. They had a puzzle competition. They plan to have more author events, and as they continue to get settled in the area, they have plans to have an event almost every day.
They want to bring people from all demographics in, the couple said. They understand purchasing new books is a luxury and not many people have a more disposable income, which is a reason for the store’s location. They wanted to make this accessible for the older generation in the area as well as the new wave of younger families to Oro Valley.
Kristin Johnson is a customer who recently moved to Oro Valley and just happened upon the book bar.
“I loved it. I came from Denver, where the bookstores are just so much bigger. There’s less selection [at Stacks Book Club], but I like the homey and cozy feel, and then I get a glass of wine,” Johnson said.
Another customer, Sherrie Zion, praised the store’s employees.
“I think it’s got a good vibe. It’s got great customer service. I like the service. I like hanging out here and what they have to offer, the coffee, the wine and the books,” said Zion, enjoying the cooler weather out on the shop patio.
The owners started to get serious about a new business at the end of 2019. They spent all of 2020 researching different aspects of owning a book business. They knew that they wanted to own a bookstore and cafe, but they started with the book-buying and selling business. By the summer of 2021, they started to do pop-up stores anywhere they could.
“We’d use patio space at restaurants, empty retail spaces, breweries, tap rooms, anywhere that somebody would give us a little bit of space to be able to start to meet and talk to people about the idea of a bookstore and then also see if we like to buy and sell books,” Crispin Jeffrey-Franco said.
In 2022, they began looking for available spaces. When they found the space in Oro Valley, it was empty, and they built the interior from the ground up, building all of the bookshelves that are seen on the edges of the space.
More information on Stacks Book Club, located at 1880 E. Tangerine Road, Suite 140, can be found on the shop’s website at stacksbookclub.com.
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