PHOTOS: See the New Home of The Vespiary and Mount Jumbo Textiles in Missoula

As if following Lewis Carroll's white rabbit, three signs led me upstairs and around corners, a miniature urban adventure, through the Warehouse Mall to the new home of The Vespiary and Mount Jumbo Textiles.

Nestled inside two rooms, stacks of books and rows of fabrics enveloped the walls in the harmony of abundance, and in the center of the larger room was a please-sit-down-won't-you couch (pictured below). From that couch that begs you to get comfy, I spoke with Audra Loyal about the next phase of her long-time Missoula business, The Vespiary.

If you haven't been in Missoula long, or you don't remember, The Vespiary was located in The Buttercup Market and Cafe on Helen Avenue where Tandem Bakery is now. Loyal fondly described working at her craft while also interacting with customers and answering their questions about bookbinding and book repair. But during the pandemic, she moved her operation to her home and for several years it worked well, until she needed a change.

"I realized that I was becoming very hermitized," Loyal said. But she also wanted a central location to meet with her clients rather than at her home, and that inspired her to find a new space.

The Vespiary and the 1,000 Books

Loyal has a full bindery in her home workshop with equipment that she says is thousands and thousands of pounds and over 100 years old. Moving that operation wouldn't be practical, so she plans to split her time between home and the new location.

Mondays-Wednesdays, she'll have "bench days" where she does restoration and binding work for clients from her home bindery, but on Thursdays and Fridays, she'll be in the new shop to meet with clients and "book-matchmaking" from her curated used books collection.

During her time at The Buttercup and the pandemic, she began collecting used books, which she sold online and at pop-up markets around Missoula, amassing some 1,000 books. Adding in the fact that she also binds blank journals and sketchbooks, her business is now three-fold: new blank books, repair and restoration, and used book sales.

Restoration in the Digital Age

It may come as a surprise that not only is the bulk of Loyal's business repair and restoration, but those repairs are not just for old books.

"I've fixed books that are brand new that have destroyed themselves in shipping. I have fixed books like a Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual. Or sometimes people will bring me like a science textbook because again, those are really heavy and get a lot of use. Any kind of textbook. They're often pretty chunky and have really heavy paper. And they're expensive. It's cheaper often for people to repair those than it is to get a new one." 

And if her business is any indication, people are definitely still reading physical books.

Grand Opening July 19

The Vespiary and Mount Jumbo Textiles will host a grand opening in their new location inside the Warehouse Mall, 725 Alder Suite 25 on July 19 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The event will feature Montana's Poet Laureate, Chris LaTray, who will read poetry and talk about his new book "Becoming Little Shell."

If you'd like a sneak peek to see even more photos of the new space (and the vibrant textiles), keep scrolling for a first look.