After building a successful bookstore in Texas, Chicago native Raven White has returned to Chicago to start her next chapter.
White will host the grand opening of her new business, Honey and Hue Bookstore, 1804 W. 103rd St., on Saturday, Nov. 15.
Although White may be a new face in the Beverly/Morgan Park business community, she’s well-versed in running a bookstore.
White owned a bookstore in Texas, Brown Sugar Café and Books, before moving back to Chicago in 2024. With her latest venture, Honey and Hue, White said she will offer new books from best sellers to local indie authors.
“We are a traditional bookstore,” she said. “We have over 24 genres. We’re not a specialty bookstore. We’re general; we have every topic from thriller, historical fiction, horror, romance, science, anything that you can think of.”
White plans to make Honey and Hue a place for not just big-name authors, but local writers as well.
“We have a platform for independent authors,” she said. “We’re bringing in 50 local authors right from the Chicago area that will be housed in our bookstore as well.”
For White, her bookstore is more than just a retail space. She envisions Honey and Hue as a cultural hub, a place for creativity, literacy, mentorship and gathering.
“We believe that reading is way bigger than just books,” she said. “It’s a marriage between art and music.”
White plans to display local artists in her business and bring programming for both adults and youth to the storefront.
“When you want to reach youths, you have to meet them where they are,” she said. “It’s no secret that the literacy rates are extremely low. So, you have to find what children like, and for a lot of them, they like art; they like to draw; they like to create; and they love music.”
When it comes to young readers, White said, Honey and Hue plans to host literary cultural events, bringing in authors and partnering with nearby schools.
The business has founded a nonprofit, the Honey and Hue Literacy Collective, to support its mission of making books more accessible to younger audiences in schools.
White grew up in the Roseland neighborhood and is a graduate of the Chicago Public Schools. She is launching the business with her daughters, Kennedy White, 22, and Kai Elbert, 16.
“They are helping me with the youth programming, all things youth and storytelling,” she said. “My daughters and I are going to be the face of the business running everything on a day-to-day basis.”
White’s business experience in Texas was at times shaped by racial intolerance in the community. In coming home to Chicago and choosing a location for her bookstore, it was important for her to find a diverse neighborhood in which her business could thrive.
“It was important to me that I chose the space that chose me back,” she said. “We researched neighborhoods for a year. We chose the Beverly/Morgan Park community because we felt like it chose us back.”
White wants everyone in the neighborhood to feel comfortable and at home at Honey and Hue.
That starts with the business’s grand opening on Nov. 15. According to its website, the bookstore’s celebration will include special sales, artist showcases, storytelling, book signings and live music.
For more information, visit the website for Honey and Hue Bookstore’s website at honeyandhuebookstore.com.