Atomic Books to triple size of its Hampden store

Local lovers of books and magazines have reason to celebrate: Atomic Books is expanding, more than tripling the size of the independent bookstore in Hampden.

The shop, located at 3620 Falls Road, will open a second floor this fall, said Benn Ray, who co-owns Atomic Books with Rachel Whang. The expansion will increase the store’s footprint from 2,000 square feet to roughly 6,600, he said.

After two decades in the current location, they need more room to sell their growing inventory.

“We’ll have more space, more room to browse, more things that we aren’t carrying right now,” Ray said.

It was also a matter of opportunity: Previous upstairs tenants included dance studios who were, naturally, loud neighbors.

“That’s a really terrible thing to be underneath of, so part of it was we just can’t take the noise anymore,” he said.

First opened in 1992 on West Read Street in Mount Vernon, Atomic Books has built a loyal customer base over the years, selling a wide range of books, comics, rare periodicals and other reading material that often can’t be found in corporate shops.

The store is also a literary community hub, housing a cozy bar called Eightbar and hosting author events. It’s also where the Pope of Trash, John Waters, picks up his fan mail.

Adding a second floor to Atomic Books will simply allow the owners to do more of what they already do.

“Downstairs is largely going to stay the same,” Ray, 57, said. “We’re just making more room.”

The second floor is under construction but quickly making progress, according to Ray. They’ll soon start installing fixtures into the newly painted room.

Nationally, stores like Atomic Books are on the rise: more than 500 shops joined the American Booksellers Association, the trade association for independent stores, over the past year, according to the Associated Press.

Ray, who grew up in Glen Burnie and Pasadena, said he and Whang are excited to open upstairs. The expansion is a result of customers’ consistent support, he said.

“The reason we’re able to do this is because we have the support of a community,” Ray said.

Correction: This story has been corrected to say that Atomic Books first opened on West Read Street in Mount Vernon, not 36th Street in Hampden.