On a stretch of Archer Avenue in Summit, a new bookstore is quietly turning a pop-up dream into something meant to last.
Booktique Unlimited is small in name, but its owner says the goal has always been big: make reading feel fun, accessible and personal again.
The microbookstore is owned by Amanda Maria Barrios, a Burbank resident and English major at Dominican University, where she is scheduled to graduate in December 2027. She is also a Reavis High School graduate and has lived in Burbank for about 18 years.
Her new space at 7420 W. Archer Ave. comes after a stretch of uncertainty. Barrios previously ran her pop-up concept inside Painted Tree Boutiques, but after that location closed and filed for bankruptcy in April, she had to start over.
Then, she said, something unexpected happened.
“I found a rental on Facebook Marketplace,” Barrios said. “I reached out with my idea and they loved it.”
What started as a mobile pop-up has grown into a permanent home for a bookstore built on community, conversation and connection.
Inside Booktique Unlimited, the shelves will hold new and gently used books for both kids and adults. Romance novels and thrillers sit alongside memoirs and nonfiction. Fantasy, Spanish-language titles and young adult fiction round out the selection, along with board books and early chapter books for younger readers.
The store will also go beyond traditional bookselling.
Plans include a Little Free Library, book trade-ins, book clubs, a Book Bank and teacher wish lists. A loyalty program will reward frequent readers, and book-themed items such as bookmarks, reading sleeves, mugs and Kindle accessories will be available throughout the shop.
Barrios does not describe it as a typical bookstore. She describes it more as a space that grows with the people who walk through it.
“We plan to be open for as long as the community will have and support us,” she said.
Her connection to books goes back years. Reading became an escape during a difficult childhood and eventually turned into something much bigger.
“I grew up in a toxic home and reading helped me escape when it became too much,” she said. “It got me into writing at a young age and helped me learn that books were more than just words on a page. They had meaning.”
That early relationship with reading never faded. As she got older, she said she struggled to find a traditional career path until she realized she already knew what she wanted to build.
Now she also works with children as a Girl Scout leader and has spent time giving away books, stocking little free libraries and helping families who do not always have easy access to reading material.
“I absolutely love doing what I do, even if it means sacrificing my sleep sometimes,” she said with a laugh.
Booktique Unlimited is built around that same sense of sharing and accessibility. Barrios said she wants the store to stay flexible, shaped by what the community wants on its shelves.
“We’re always open to suggestions from our customers letting us know what they want in the store,” she said.
The grand opening is set for Aug. 29 with a ribbon-cutting at noon. The celebration will be family-friendly and include raffles, prizes, treats and free items for children. Barrios hopes the event feels less like a formal launch and more like a neighborhood gathering where kids explore, families browse and books quietly find new homes.
The opening marks the beginning of something she has been building toward for years, now finally taking shape on a small stretch of Archer Avenue.