Sleepy Dog Books will soon come to downtown
A locally owned bookstore will soon be coming to downtown Mt. Pleasant.
Jennifer and Riley Justis, the owners of Sleepy Dog Books, plan to open an official bookstore at 120 E. Broadway Street around the end of April or beginning of May.
Both Jennifer and Riley Justis have studied at Central Michigan University and were both interested in bringing a bookstore to Mt. Pleasant, as they’ve felt there is a need for a bookstore in the area.
“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine and my wife’s to open a bookstore,” Riley Justis said. “We’re both avid readers and we’ve researched and worked with different lenders.”
Sleepy Dog Books will feature a variety of books from different genres as well as different products from different Michigan-based businesses. Some of the products include cards, socks, bookmarks, and candles among other items.
The couple were able find a lease for a downtown location and have just taken over the lease for the shop at the beginning of 2022. Currently, the Justis’ are working on painting the shop and will soon be adding custom bookshelves.
Sleepy Dog Books has also been able to obtain grant opportunities to further help their business.
This includes Michigan Women Forward’s 53 Voices pitch challenge, which is sponsored by Fifth Third Bank, where women entrepreneurs can submit a short pitch and receive grant money for their businesses. Jennifer Justis, being the primary owner of Sleepy Dog Books, came in 3rd place during the competition and received $1,000 in grant money.
To further promote Sleepy Dog Books, a pop up-shop was available to community members during the Downtown Holiday Market in December. The bookstore will also be holding
other pop-up shops before the official opening of the store.
While the community waits for Sleepy Dog Books to officially open a bookstore downtown, the store has an online shop where customers can order books to be sent to their homes. The store is powered by Bookshop.org, which supports locally owned bookstores.
“We’ve had an extremely positive response from the community,” Justis said. “We’re excited with following we’ve gained on social media.”