Little Professor opens location in Pepper Place

The popular Homewood bookstore Little Professor opened a second location in Pepper Place in Birmingham in August.

Little Professor has done pop-ups in its Pepper Place location every Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to noon but are still preparing to open the space for regular hours, which the owners, Jonathan and Meredith Robinson, are expecting to happen sometime in November.

“We've worked really hard to make our ‘pop-up’ feel like a full store experience. When you visit, you'll notice we have many things (albeit on a smaller scale) you're used to in Homewood: we have a kids section, coffee bar, best-seller table, gifts and cards, and of course sections for fiction and non-fiction books,” they said.

The Robinsons bought Little Professor from its previous owners before the pandemic, looking to revitalize the store for a new age, they said.

“I have three young children, and the biggest thing that we saw was that it just needed new life as far as reengaging young families, which is what so much of Homewood is comprised of,” Meredith said.

Independent bookstores offer a “familiarity” and “warmth” that isn’t found in large retail bookstores such as Books-A-Million or Barnes and Noble, Meredith said.

“I think there is some sort of aesthetic that provides a warmth that feels very different than something that is done by a big-box retailer,” Meredith said. “I think the difference between the two is that it’s not a transactional purchase. That’s what we really pride ourselves on.”