With bookstore Story Line Books opening in Union Depot in September, visitors can travel to new places in more ways than one.

A bit of an escapist herself when it comes to reading, Story Line Books owner Danielle Miller will be joining fellow retailers Lowertown Bike Shop and Coffee Station, Choo Choo Bob’s Train Store and the restaurant 1881 by Lake Elmo Inn inside the depot. The bookstore will be located between the restaurant and the train store in the Head House — in the space formerly used by Spinning Wylde Cotton Candy Cafe.

“Reading has been such a central part of my life. I think it has the capability to change lives,” Miller said.

The team at Union Depot is very invested in the community and bringing it together, Miller said, and for her that means hosting her own events at Story Line Books, including book clubs, author signings and themed parties.

The bookstore will have a little bit of everything with a focus on fiction and children’s books, she said. It will also sell travel items, like motion-sickness glasses for those who would like to read and travel-friendly games. Giftable items like candles and blankets will come from local or small producers, according to Miller.

Miller wants to offer children’s books in a way that will make it easier for customers to find books that are the right reading-level and fit for each child.

Leasable space at Union Depot filled

With the addition of Story Line Books, the depot’s leasable spaces are now all filled, said Union Depot General Manager Lindsay Boyd.

Since the start of Amtrak’s Borealis train service in May, the depot has seen about a 30 percent increase in visitors, Boyd said, with between 2,500 and 3,000 average daily visitors.

Amtrak’s routes include those to Chicago as well as Seattle, according to the Amtrak website. A bookstore gives those coming through the station somewhere to pass the time, said Lowertown Bike Shop operations manager Crystal Sursely.

“All of these components add more and more of our community within this building,” Sursely said.

A destination in themselves

The depot hasn’t typically housed many retail businesses, but the stores are a kind of destination themselves, Boyd said.

Miller, who previously worked as an attorney in small business and entrepreneurial law in Nebraska, said she and her husband share a love of trains, even celebrating one of his birthdays at a train station and going to its shops and restaurants.

While operating in a transport depot can make public visibility tricky, events hosted by the depot are also an opportunity to get thousands of people from all over the metro in the space, said Sursely.

The bubble that the depot creates for its tenants also provides what Sursely refers to as its own little community.

“We have all the different businesses here, all the different areas that work in the building, from Amtrak to the janitorial to security, and it becomes just this really amazing space where we’re all looking out for each other and we’re all helping to promote each other and work together to make it a wonderful, warm and welcoming space,” Sursely said.

While Miller said she is nervous about her new endeavor, she’s also excited to see what she’s capable of doing. Miller said she wants the bookstore to be a special place to others like the one she grew up loving.

“It was a place that I had experienced a lot of happiness and that would be beautiful,” Miller said. “(What I want) is just to bring some joy and peace to the community. And if I do that, it’s a win,” Miller said.

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