In a cozy bookstore tucked in Auburn Folsom, new books fly off the shelves, where customers choose from a selection of different genres and portals into new worlds. 

As a new local store that opened on November 22, 2025, Old Haunts Bookstore takes support from the community and social media. The store hosts many events for the community where people get together and share their love for reading.

It’s an exciting journey to open a store. Ryan Hoyt, the owner of the bookstore, used to work in technology before he opened Old Haunts and pursued his interest. 

“I was working in another career in tech and social media, and I, on the side, have been working on books and just being involved in the book world…and so I was looking for a changing career. This was something that’s kind of been in the back of my mind for several years, and then I just decided to go for it recently,” Hoyt said.

Since opening a bookstore can be a potential financial risk, Hoyt mentions how he is still managing the profits that he needs “to stay afloat” and fund the shop independently. Additionally, due to the store having a smaller layout, organization is key to accommodate more people.

“It’s a very small space, so we’re still figuring out how we’re going to fit people and how many people we can get in for different events,” Hoyt said.

Some events that the store already hosts are book clubs, including silent reading clubs in the afternoon. As time progresses, Hoyt plans to add more events to draw more customers into the bookstore such as book-themed watercolor painting and a kids poetry workshop.

“I feel like the community I’ve gotten to know people around here, they really do support small businesses, and they love to support us. Even though you could buy books cheaper, sometimes on Amazon, or you can go to a store like Barnes and Noble that has a bigger selection, people understand the struggles of a small business, and know that small businesses will only survive if the community supports them,” Hoyt said.

The community builds the genre of books, especially for the shelves of Old Haunts. Hoyt makes sure he asks his customers for book recommendations to add. So far, there’s a wide selection of books for people to choose from, mostly from big publishers and a few local authors. 

“We have all the genres from nonfiction, literary fiction, romance, young adult [and] middle grade children’s in the hallway. Over here, we have science fiction and fantasy horror and then mystery and thriller,” Hoyt said, while pointing to different shelves.

The layout of the bookstore makes everything more convenient . Even though there are many genres, the bookshelves are grouped neatly for the customers to access.

“I felt like it was easy to find something… If you have any questions, there’s good descriptions of some of the books that the owner, or maybe people who have read those books suggest and that you may like. So that kind of gives you a guide if you’re just browsing…there’s many different things that have caught my eye here,” Katie Brown, a customer, said.

As more people prefer books from online, a small local book store makes the place unique. Shelves are based on readers’ preferences from the local areas. It makes each store special in their own way.

“There aren’t too many [independent bookstores] around these days…when I was a kid, you could find bookstores everywhere…with the rise of Barnes…[and] Amazon smaller bookstores kind of faded away. In the past few years, there’s been a rise of bookstores again…when I came to Granite Bay, there wasn’t one, and I really miss that,” Hoyt said.

Old Haunts was the perfect way Hoyt could add back local bookstores. As one of Hoyt’s goals, he plans to expand the bookstore, host larger events and create a larger space for his customers in order to build a community through books and help people reconnect with reading. 

“It’s a comfortable place. When people come in, they’ll feel welcome, and hopefully we’ll be able to find something in here they like, even though we don’t have every book that’s published out there,” Hoyt said. “We have a little of everything, [so] hopefully something for everybody.”