New franchise owners hope to create a place for people to connect
Photographer / Ron wise
Books & Brews, an Indianapolis staple and unique establishment that features a combo of craft beer and quality books, is expanding and opening a new location in Noblesville at Hamilton Town Center. While the first Books & Brews opened off of 96th street in 2014, the franchise has experienced exponential growth in recent years. New locations have been added to downtown Indy, Broad Ripple, Brownsburg, and Muncie, to name a few. The Noblesville location will be the most recent addition to the list of Indy area Books & Brews.
It originally opened as a local business with an innovative idea on how to reach the community by creating a place that served as brewery, bookstore, and community center all in one. Books & Brews has now become a popular and well-respected business that has enjoyed rapid growth in the past 5 years by providing a meaningful service to the people of Indianapolis. Seeking to touch on ideas that promote community and conversation, all locations feature a wide array of used books for sale on shelves around the store, taps pouring house-brewed craft beer, board games, live music, trivia nights, local fundraisers, and tables where customers can get to know each other. Each Books & Brews location serves as a community hub that allows for the sharing of ideas and fellowship and provides a “place for people without a place,” to quote the mission statement of the business.
The owner of the new location, Jordan Fox, hopes to build off the successes of past locations while also implementing new ideas to give the location its own unique identity.
“I think it’s (Books & Brews) a destination within the mall for families to come to, something totally different than what’s in the area,” said Fox. “Collaborating with the other family friendly places in the mall, we want to make it a spot for families to go out and enjoy the day, spend time with their kids, and just for people to meet each other and reconnect. We’re a very different breed; we don’t have tv’s in our location, so you truly have to sit there and connect with the people around you.”
While Fox is not the original founder of the company, her and her husband have been customers of Books & Brews since the early days of the business, enjoying it as a date spot in years past, and now as a family getaway with their young daughter. When the opportunity arose to open the Noblesville location, it was a natural fit for Jordan to run it considering her history with the company, and there are ew elements in store for the location.
“I think the most important thing is people know that we are family friendly, and it’s just a place to reconnect with friends and family, or even a first date,” said Fox. “It’s such a low-key, fun environment that no matter what the occasion, I hope people come in and enjoy local beer, local food, and just interact with the people around them.”
The Noblesville Books & Brews is slated to open later this month, and the location will be at 13230 Harrel Parkway Suite 100, in Hamilton Town Center.
