Austinist Interviews: Domy Books Co-founder Russell Etchen

From your website, the Houston store seems to have a lot of event programming-- movie nights, gallery shows, signings. Do you envision the same sort of thing for Austin?

Absolutely, and as soon as possible. In time, we will be very active... We had one book signing a couple weeks ago with the filmmaker Bill Daniel and had our second signing with the artist Gary Panter (known for, among lots of other work, his work on the set design and art for Pee-Wee's Playhouse.)

How did you choose Austin for your second location?

It seemed like a natural move after seeing how the store was doing in Houston. We had a lot of customers that would visit the store in Houston from Austin and felt that there is a community here that could support what we are doing.

How do you envision your relationship to the Austin art and literary scenes? How are you starting that process?

Even though Domy is a retail space, we're really interested in building community... working with local and national artists and organizations to bring programming that is interesting and entertaining. We're right down the street from two of our favorite spots in town, Okay Mountain and Art Palace, and intend to coordinate and work on events that compliment and challenge each other to continue and elevate the bar of what can be accomplished here.

What can we expect to find at Domy that we can't find anywhere else in Austin?

In addition to a lot of art and culture books (videos, toys, etc...) that might slip through the cracks or not even appear at bigger stores, you will be able to find lots of small-press books and toys that one might not be able to come across otherwise. We've received a lot of feedback from customers who are happy to see such a wide array of different goods curated in one space. It's not just an museum-style book store, it's not just a comic book store, and it's not just a toy store... We find intersections in all the different aspects of contemporary art and culture and pick out the things that appeal to us the most.

How did you choose your space on Cesar Chavez?

When we were looking at spaces, we were immediately drawn to this old convenience store because of how close it is to the galleries on Cesar Chavez. It seems like the east side is in the process of changing significantly and that we are setting up shop in what will, in time, be a significant part of Austin's ever-evolving arts and cultural scene.

What does Domy Books mean when it calls itself a "progressive bookstore?"

Simply put, we set out to put a store together that appeals to our specific interests and then hope that there are other people out there who are hungry for art and culture in the same way we are. We were very influenced by stores like Printed Matter , Giant Robot, and Quimby's (and more recently, Family in LA is one of my favorite stores)... Stores that have been around for a while and have never had any set boundaries or guidelines as to how they curate their space. Additionally, we also function as a gallery space and highlight artwork by people who are directly involved in a lot of the goods we sell in the store.