It’s Your Business | Reopening the treasure box | Retail

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After focusing mainly on online business for four years, a local nonprofit bookstore has reopened its doors to walk-in shopping.

Orphans Treasure Box Bookstore, located at 826 Pioneer St., held a grand reopening on July 13. The store’s outlet is now open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. 

“It was busy all day,” said Meg Heiser, one of the store’s managers. “There was not one second that we did not have people in the store.”

She said they made over $800 on opening day — which isn’t bad when you’re selling books at a couple of dollars apiece, pointed out fellow manager Abby Mingus.

The business also operates an extensive online bookstore at orphanstreasurebox.chrislands.com. Heiser estimated that there are about 40,000 to 50,000 books in the store’s online catalog.

She said that typically, books that are more popular, more expensive and in better condition tend to be listed on their online store, rather than shelved in their discounted outlet. However, certain titles that fit these categories may be placed in the shop if there are several copies available.

The outlet had previously closed in March of 2020.

“We’ve been mostly online and been doing pretty healthy business online,” Heiser said. “…It really started snowballing over COVID and really became a powerhouse on its own. And so a lot of the store functions on the online revenue.”

This past winter, Orphans Treasure Box opened a “holiday outlet” at a neighboring property, which gave people a chance to shop in-person again.

Mingus said the holiday outlet was so popular that they kept it open through mid-summer.

Even so, customers missed their old outlet space at 826 Pioneer St., Heiser said.

“(The holiday outlet) looked like an office space filled with books instead of like a cozy bookstore,” she said. 

Mingus added that founder Beth Wendling said she was surprised by how attached people were to the old outlet, which made her realize that “if it meant that much to people and if God was calling us to open it back up, then we would do it.”

“Customers just missed it,” said Mingus, who recalled hearing questions about when the store would reopen back when she started working for the business in 2021.

Heiser said it’s a “massive effort” to run both the online and in-person store, especially since Orphans Treasure Box is staffed by a small group made up largely of volunteers and a couple of employees.

The bookstore’s mission is to donate money and books to organizations that serve vulnerable women and children, she said. Additionally, its ReStart program employs women coming out of situations such as prison, addiction or abuse that make it hard to “restart” their lives. 

Both Heiser and Mingus are graduates of the program.

The business shared on social media that their opening day raised $100 for ReStart and $300 for Restoration Urban Ministries.

BakeLab opens Champaign shop

BakeLab’s second location at Lodgic Coworking, 1807 S. Neil St. in Champaign, had a soft opening Thursday.

The café’s executive team said Lodgic proposed the partnership to them in late 2023.

“BakeLab Lodgic is designed to be the ultimate hangout for entrepreneurs and creators within our community,” the business shared on its website. “Our goal is to collaborate with you, offering the perfect space where your innovative ideas can truly come to life. We aim for you to expand your network, make new friends, and…