New Stratford bookstore offering serendipitous finds

Obodo Serendipity Books opened its doors for the first time on September 4 on Paradise Green, at 3588 Main Street. The used and new bookstore’s opening was celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by public officials, representatives of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, neighboring businesses, and the family of owner Nikkya Hargrove.

The store will focus primarily on children’s books, but Hargove indicated plans to expand inventory and respond to community needs. Monthly book clubs are also planned, and a book signing visit from Newberry Award winning Children’s author Grace Lin is already planned.

Even before the opening, Obodo had drawn people curious about the business and excited to have a new bookstore opening in the area, noting the many ways that not only her children and business partners had contributed to setting up the store, but also people she had met in the process of opening the shop.

“We’ve had community members, we’ve had moms, we’ve had dads, taking garbage out, helping with the flooring, hanging security cameras,” Hargrove said, addressing the crowd. “We look forward to it continuing because we cannot do anything alone. As a community we’re even stronger as a group than when we are alone and we are certainly a family no matter the color of our skin or our beliefs or political party.”

“Here we are,” Hargrove declared to applause, “for the community, by the community, and within the community.”

Hargrove is also an author herself, and her memoir, Mama: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found is due out October 15 from Algonquin books.

Her wife, Reverend Dinushka De Silva who serves as a minister at St. John’s Church and serves as the pediatric hospital chaplain for Yale New Haven Hospital, praised that same diversity, and credited Hargrove’s faith for bringing the store to fruition.

“Nikkya has immense faith, not just in herself, not just faith in her dreams, but faith in her God and faith in human beings,” said De Silva in a toast. “That is the essence of who she is.”

Terri Miller, the owner of the Skincare Studio Medical Spa located next door dropped by to offer her new business neighbor encouragement as well. Her business recently celebrated its own opening, and she bore a bouquet from a florist located in the same block.

“I’m so excited for Nikkya to be the new business on the block,” Miller said. “I feel like it’s exactly what we needed in our little nook. I’m just so excited, I’m an avid book reader.”

Miller said she anticipates that the two businesses will draw complimentary crowds. “Everyone who frequents Paradise Green is very much into shopping and retail. That’s kind of what we do.”

Mayor Laura Hoydick also attended the opening and called the opening of a new bookstore in the area “needed.”

“Literacy is so critically important and Nikkya, being a writer, was willing to invest in one,” Hoydick said, praising the business owner for taking a leap of faith on a new business while expressing hope for the store’s prospects, particularly as part of the existing business community.

“It’s pretty fascinating that there is a niche for something where you can put your hands on a book and read together and share thoughts together in a small space,” Hoydick said, noting that other shops in the block made excellent places to read or have discussions based on newly purchased books, such as a tea room, a store focused on cookbooks, and restaurants like The Tasty Yolk. “There’s a lot of different things happening in Stratford. I’m really proud that we’re able to do good things here.”