When Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson needed a partner to help launch her 2024 memoir, “Lovely One,” she chose Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books in the heart of historic Germantown. In a remarkable feat for a small, independent bookstore, the discussion and book signing that followed at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cedarbrook sold 4,000 tickets and became one of the most successful stops on Jackson’s national tour.

“She is someone who will exist in history textbooks,” said Uncle Bobbie’s General Manager Justin Moore. He’s no stranger to celebrity guests — including recent appearances by national championship basketball coach Dawn Staley, author Ta-Nehisi Coates, and talk show host Charlemagne Tha God. “It was an honor that her team and the publisher trusted us with such a large event.”

That trust reflects something founder Marc Lamont Hill never quite anticipated when he opened Uncle Bobbie’s in November 2017. Eight years later, his dream has grown into a regional destination that can no longer be contained within a single storefront. Moore says they’re close to selecting a new and larger location — and hopes to make an announcement this fall.

A community built on quality

Hill named the store after his late uncle, Bobbie Lee Hill, a World War II veteran who introduced young Marc to Black literature. Hill, an activist, controversial political commentator, and professor of urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City, had been selling books since his teens, and watched as the number of Black-owned bookstores in the U.S. declined from hundreds to just 54. When he first opened the store, he told the Philadelphia Tribune that he wanted to “make it 55 and create something that we needed.”

From the beginning, Hill created Uncle Bobbie’s to deliver a quality experience. This commitment shows up everywhere, from the choice of La Colombe coffee beans to the store’s interior design.

“One of the things Marc is always saying is that Black people deserve nice things too,” Moore said. “We could have found a cheaper bean, and maybe some folks wouldn’t even notice. But Marc was very clear that we wanted to bring the same level of quality to Germantown that you can get anywhere else downtown.”

That thinking shapes the store’s choice of books — distinct offerings that include focus on the Black experience, and a children’s section filled with stories about Black and brown characters.

“If you pick up a book on the shelf, you know it went through a level of vetting. It’s going to be good,” Moore noted. “And for parents to be able to bring their kids in, and see shelves full of people who look like them — I don’t know how you can put a price on something like that.”

While recent reports suggest the percentage of Black authors has begun to climb in an industry historically dominated by whites, Moore said there’s still a “huge void for Black voices and Black authors.” He counters this lack of inclusion by featuring a Black author every week, regardless of genre. He also insists events remain free to attend.

“We’re part of a community of people who, in many instances, might not have the means to afford a high-priced ticket for a celebrity event,” he said. “Here, you can be in the room with people you really admire — and if you can buy the book, get a signed copy.”

Balancing mission with business

Uncle Bobbie’s mission means that the business, a for-profit enterprise, is built around the needs of the community. And that presents challenges.

“The priority was to give Germantown, which has suffered from a lack of investment for so long, something nice,” Moore said. “But that comes with costs. We’ve been broken into 12 times since we opened. And we know that if we went further up the avenue into Chestnut Hill, it’s less likely that we would have to deal with that.”

It also means they want to keep prices low — while paying their 16-member staff a competitive wage.

But that mission is also a big reason why the business thrives. Uncle Bobbie’s has expanded well beyond its neighborhood roots, drawing customers from throughout the region, and beyond. It has more than 76,000 Instagram followers and its online business, supported by a robust social media presence and author connections, regularly fills orders nationwide.

“We’ve tracked the data over the years, and a considerable amount of our customers are actually coming from well beyond the neighborhood,” Moore says.

The value of this reach became clear during COVID-19, when the forced closure prompted Moore to launch a $50,000 GoFundMe campaign to keep the store afloat — and wound up raising almost $100,000.

“We got donations from all over the country,” Moore said. “We’re fortunate to be able to have an impact with a lot of people in a lot of different places.”

The focus pays off

The store’s approach clearly works. In April 2018, two Black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks because they sat down to wait for a meeting without buying anything. The next day customers came from all over the region to flood Uncle Bobbie’s in a show of support for the Black-owned business, making it one of their biggest nonholiday sales days ever.

“That was one incident, but it was indicative of the experience of Black people in this country,” Moore said. “Uncle Bobbie’s exists, in part, to be a space where Black people know they are not going to be criminalized.”

Uncle Bobbie’s mission also resonates with regular customers.

“It’s just really nice, and positive — they’ve created a real community here,” said Dalaney Fitzgerald, a licensed behavioral therapist from Elkins Park.

Monique Major, who lives in West Oak Lane, knows it as “a great place to come and work.”

Angela Val, president and CEO of VisitPhilly, who also shops at the store, says she feels “personally grateful” for it. “That’s not just because it raises the profile of our city, but because it embraces a diversity of voices with its focus on Black culture, literature, and excellence, and it does so in a way that doesn’t exclude anyone.

“The fact that Ketanji Brown Jackson sold 4,000 tickets is incredible. I’m so proud to be able to say that. Bookstores are so important to our democracy — now more than ever — and I love that this one is in Germantown.”

Leo Dillinger, executive director of the Germantown United Community Development Corp., appreciates that the store draws people who might not otherwise visit the neighborhood.

“It’s definitely a destination business,” Dillinger said. “The excellence of everything they do — from the coffee itself, to the curated selection of books, to the guests they are able to host — has really been an economic boon to Germantown, and to the city as a whole.”

Even better, Dillinger said, Uncle Bobbie’s is an inspiration for other would-be entrepreneurs considering a business in Germantown — the city’s 12th poorest neighborhood, according to census data.

“They’ve proved that, by offering something people really want and respond to, you can be very successful opening a high-standard business in this neighborhood,” he said.

The buzz even reached the big screen in December, when a character in Netflix’s drama series “The Madness” sported an Uncle Bobbie’s T-shirt in the show’s fourth episode — a moment the store celebrated on social media as “Uncle Bobbie’s goes Hollywood.”

Planning for expansion

With their current lease expiring in May, Moore says staying in Germantown “is a priority.” The store has launched an $18,000 capital campaign on GoFundMe. By the end of August, they raised $2,451, mostly in donations under $25.

“We’re going to ramp up fundraising once we identify a property,” Moore said.

Wherever they wind up, Moore plans to stay focused on maintaining the magic — something that transcends typical retail metrics. And the word is out. When Kamala Harris’ upcoming book tour in support of her campaign memoir “107 Days,” makes its Philadelphia stop, she’ll be appearing at the Met in partnership with Uncle Bobbie’s.

“I am most proud that we, for the last eight years, have consistently, and unapologetically brought Black people joy,” Moore said. “We are making Black people feel seen, valued, and represented. And they have joy. That’s not something that really shows up on a balance sheet. It’s just something that you know, and can see.”

As Uncle Bobbie’s prepares for its next chapter, Hill’s original vision — inspired by the living room where he found books and critical thinking — continues to evolve. The store that began as one man’s effort to preserve Black literary spaces has become something larger: a successful model for how independent bookstores can be anchors for community, conversation, and culture.