A bookstore in Bishop Arts is set to close its doors — but it’s not the end of it.
Poets Books’ last day of operation is Sunday, and the store will be folded into the other shop under the brand in Deep Ellum, said Marco Cavazos, owner in an email and interview. However, the plan is to find a new home for the Bishop Arts location, possibly in Oak Cliff.
“For me, it’s like, ‘Well, let’s find the new spot. … Let’s find a new home,’ ” Cavazos said. “Let’s make it better than it was before.”
Cavazos is confident that book lovers, poets and artists who have been visiting in Bishop Arts will visit the store in Deep Ellum, and eventually at the new home. He said there isn’t an exact time frame for now. The new site should be bigger than the roughly 500 square feet that the Bishop Arts store covers, giving it room for events such as open mics and book readings, Cavazos said.
There might be coffee or jazz at night — Cavazos is keeping the options open.
“I see Poets Books as a community rather than any particular address, and that community isn’t going away,” Cavazos said.
The exit comes after the landlord didn’t renew the lease amid a dispute over invoices, Cavazos said, noting the business had a 30-day notice to vacate.
The store opened at the end of 2019, getting enough support to power through the challenges of the pandemic. The Deep Ellum store opened about February 2025.
It’s a loss for the Bishop Arts area, nestled to the southwest of downtown Dallas, an active neighborhood with restaurants, theater and retail — and even a place for a celebrity sighting.
“We are seeing this as an opportunity to level up to the right location that can better serve the community, which has supported us for years,” Cavazos said.