Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe

Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe has traded in downtown Asheville, North Carolina since 1982. Emoke B'Racz opened it without business loans in a 2,000 square foot space on Haywood Street. B'Racz came to the United States from Hungary at fifteen, her father having left as a political exile in 1956. She spent nine years working at a Waldenbooks in Connecticut before moving to Asheville. She took the name from malapropism, the comic misuse of a word, and stocked shelves of international literature and poetry while paying staff wages with health insurance. Downtown Asheville in the 1980s had boarded-up storefronts and little foot traffic, and cheap rent went into inventory. After fifteen years the store moved three doors down into a historic building that had been an Elks club, with community members helping carry the stock. It now stands at 55 Haywood Street. In 2000 Publishers Weekly named Malaprop's Bookseller of the Year and the city gave it a Seal of the City recognition. Gretchen Horn, on staff since 2001 as barista and later financial manager, became majority owner in January 2019. The shop carries books for adults and children as well as young adults, along with gifts. The cafe serves pastries from local bakeries and locally roasted coffee. Hand-lettered signage and event posters line the walls, and the store makes room for emerging regional writers. Our State magazine profiled B'Racz in 2011 and Blue Ridge Public Radio in 2019.