R.D. Talley Books has pulled off a very Vegas second act: After losing its original Strip storefront, the city’s first Black-owned bookstore is back in business at a new mall location. The reopening gives owner Roderick Talley a fresh stage for local authors, young readers and visitors looking for something more meaningful than another souvenir.
The bookstore held its grand reopening Saturday inside Fashion Show Las Vegas, drawing community members, writers and tourists to the new space. As reported by FOX5 Las Vegas, Talley built the business through pop-up shops and online sales before opening a brick-and-mortar store, which is now located on the mall’s second level.
The shop’s official location page lists Fashion Show Las Vegas as its current home and maintains an online storefront alongside the physical shop. That combination lets Talley serve both locals who want a neighborhood-style bookstore and visitors who stumble across the store while touring the Strip.
A New Location After A Sudden Lease Loss
The move followed a difficult spring for Talley. FOX5 Las Vegas reported that Talley received notice in April that his landlord was terminating the original lease, leaving him 30 days to vacate; he left the space in May.
Talley said the community’s reaction during the closure helped carry the business through the transition. At the reopening, customers described the bookstore as a gathering place for local authors and children, while longtime supporter LaDondra Gross said seeing representation on book covers made the store especially meaningful, according to FOX5’s reopening report.
Black-Owned Businesses Are Expanding Across Nevada
The bookstore’s return lands amid a broader rise in minority entrepreneurship across Nevada. An analysis from the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research found that Black-owned small businesses increased by at least 35.4% between 2019 and 2022, while Hispanic-owned businesses rose 31.1% and Asian-owned businesses grew 27.2%.
UNLV also found that 40% of Nevada’s small businesses were created after the pandemic, with Clark County accounting for much of the state’s growth. In that context, R.D. Talley Books is more than a new tenant in a major shopping center—it is a small, locally built business claiming room on one of the region’s biggest commercial stages.
The bookstore’s official location page lists the Fashion Show storefront along with its online shopping option, giving the business a physical home after a turbulent few months. For Talley, the new address appears to be less a retreat than a reset—and the books are back on the shelves.
