MahoganyBooks

MahoganyBooks

File:MahoganyBooks.png
Company type	Independent bookstore
Industry	Bookselling
Genre	Works by African diaspora
Founded	2007 (2007)
Founder	Derrick Young Ramunda Young
Area served	Washington metropolitan area
Website	{{URL|example.com|optional display text}}

MahoganyBooks is an independent bookstore that focuses on literature from the African diaspora. Established in 2007 as a digital retailer by Derrick and Ramunda Young, it later launched a brick-and-mortar store within the Anacostia Arts Center in 2017, followed by a second branch opening at National Harbor, Maryland on Juneteenth 2021.

History

Cofounded by entrepreneurs Derrick and Ramunda Young, MahoganyBooks is a Black-owned business. The company began as an online bookstore operating out of their one-bedroom apartment in Alexandria, Virginia in 2007. Its inaugural physical location, encompassing 500 square feet, opened at the Anacostia Arts Center in November 2017. The bookstore’s name honors their daughter and was created as a means to uplift the Black community while promoting works by authors of the African diaspora. It holds the distinction of being the first bookstore established east of the Anacostia River since the mid-1990s. The brand’s logo depicts a silhouette of a young girl with Afro puffs engrossed in reading.

In 2020, MahoganyBooks was awarded a $5,000 "Resilient Together" grant from Cities of Service and local collaborators to support its Black Books Matter: From the Writer's Perspective program highlighting residents of Ward 8. The following year saw enhanced recognition when former U.S. president Barack Obama joined virtually to launch its Black History Month book club, boosting its profile.

Expanding its presence further, MahoganyBooks inaugurated a second retail outlet at National Harbor on Juneteenth 2021, broadening its reach within the region.