Lofty Pigeon Books to Open in Kensington, Adding to Slew of New Indie Bookstores in Brooklyn

A new independent bookstore, Lofty Pigeon Books, plans to debut on Kensington’s Church Avenue this summer.

Run by wife-and-husband team Briana Parker and Davi Marra, the store will have a hand-picked selection of around 5,000 books and will also carry retail items harder to find along the commercial corridor, such as gift cards, stationary, and puzzles.

Both Parker and Marra have a long history in the world of books. When Parker was growing up in Sheepshead Bay, she and her family used to guess what new businesses would take over empty storefronts in the neighborhood, and each time she hoped for a bookstore. She even started small bookstore businesses in her bedroom as a child; her stuffed toys were her customers.

Thousands of miles away on the West Coast, a young Marra sought out the surrounds of books and the peace and quiet of his local bookstores. “My home life was pretty chaotic so bookstores from a young age were kind of a place of refuge for me, they were always very special places because they were quiet and tranquil and the people who worked there were always so kind and gentle. So it was really just kind of a magical place for me.”

A couple of decades later, and back in New York, Parker and Marra found themselves working together at the Corner Bookstore on the Upper East Side. There, they fell in love and dreams of a bookstore of their own were born. Jump ahead another 15 years, after a global pandemic and a lot of reading, and the dream is about to become a reality with the opening of Lofty Pigeon Books at 743 Church Avenue in Kensington this August.

Since getting his first job at book and music store Borders at 17, Marra has worked in independent bookstores ever since. He said he’s worked in “pretty much every single aspect of the business” and most recently was the manager and book buyer for WORD Bookstores, a beloved indie bookstore in Greenpoint that recently expanded to Jersey City.

He was often the only person there keeping WORD open during the pandemic, which he said was “an intense period, but it was also, for me, because it’s something I know, I’ve been doing for so long, has been such a source of stability and familiarity in my life.”

“I love reading, I’ve always loved reading and talking about books by extension. Where socializing has not always come so easily to me, talking about books and being around books has always felt comfortable,” he said. “You know, it’s retail work, but it’s unique in that there’s kind of a real connection that you make with your customers as a bookseller where you’re kind of on an even level and there’s a mutual respect, a love for the same sort of product.”

While Marra stayed at Corner Bookstore for 11 years, Parker went on to a career in publishing and has worked for the last decade at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the publication department and as a book editor. But, she said, the dreams of opening a bookstore remained. “Davi was kind of like whenever you’re ready,” she said, and that time came during the pandemic.

As people were fleeing the city and questioning whether it would recover, Parker said she was “ready to double down.” “This is my home, my community, and I really wanted to be in a role and in a place where I was more connected directly with community, and really just thinking about those days working in Corner Bookstore it was obvious. So we kind of made the decision then and we’ve been slowly working up to it ever since, and particularly waiting for the perfect kind of store to open up.”

Parker said the couple was set on opening in Kensington, an area she knows well as a third generation Brooklynite and one that is convenient from their home in Downtown Brooklyn. “We just knew that it’s a very creative area, a place that is very community focused and that really supports local business, values local business, values community spaces, creative artistic pursuits, and we just wanted to be part of that, to tap into that and contribute to it,” she said.

It took a while for the couple to find a space in the neighborhood, so when a lease came up for the storefront at 743 Church Avenue they jumped. The building, which housed Flatbush Optical since at least 2011, according to Google Maps, changed hands in February 2023 and was bought by 743 Church Ave LLC for $1.45 million, according to city records.

The couple’s lease begins May 1, and they said they’ll spend a couple of months on build-out with a soft opening expected for August and a grand opening after Labor Day — in time for the start of the school year.

Marra said the plan is to have more than 5,000 books in the 1,200-square-foot space, each one hand selected and curated with the help of a survey they posted on Facebook that attracted more than 400 responses in its first three days. “I’m putting together the opening inventory now and it’s an absolute blast to do.”

The couple said they want the space to be welcoming, warm, cozy, and accessible, “in all meanings of that term,” Parker said. “And certainly, customer service is a big, you know, emphasis of ours because of Davi’s experience and just because what we think a really good bookstore that’s serving the community will do is make multiple ways for people to connect with books.”

Marra said a guiding principle is also for everyone to feel truly represented on the shelves. “So we’re not held back by a traditional Western canon, although there will be a good number of those books on the shelves, but a lot of people have done amazing work to outline new canons and more inclusive bodies of literature and that’s really where literature’s most exciting right now to me.”

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Marra said he wanted to make sure the couple didn’t use a narrow lens when populating the shelves, and were cognizant of the fact that Kensington and the surrounding neighborhoods are very diverse. “We want everyone to be able to come into the store and see works of literature that excite and interest them and represent them.”

Lofty Pigeon Books will also include a “sizable area” for children, with seating and space for kids to play and read, and will forge relationships with local schools, the couple said. “People talk a lot about technology replacing old media and I’ve long contested that, but where it’s really not true is with kids,” Marra said.

“Kids are still reading books, they still love books, and I want it to be able to create a space for parents and children to be able to encounter books in a friendly setting, and to feel comfortable and welcome and to, you know, have access to what I had access to so long ago, and so it’s really important to me to re-create that and to provide that space.”

Parker said the couple is also hearing from local artists, authors, bakers, teachers, “and so many people who love books,” about possible collaborations. “It’s just been so fun and exciting to think about how we can collaborate with people and kind of harness and contribute to that energy,” Parker said.

“It’s really been beyond our wildest expectations, and we’re really overwhelmed and humbled by it.”

Marra and Parker are launching a Kickstarter campaign for Lofty Pigeon Books this Friday, the day before Indie Bookstore Day, to get the ball rolling. Once open, Lofty Pigeon Books will be the latest in a slew of bookshop openings across the borough, including the nearby opening of Taylor & Co. in Ditmas Park. Two new bookstores recently opened on Bed Stuy’s Tompkins Avenue, Troubled Sleep debuted in Park Slope in August 2022, and Cobble Hill’s Books Are Magic expanded to Brooklyn Heights at the end of last year.

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