Cetonia Weston-Roy will open Niche Book Bar at 331 W. North Ave. this May, if all pans out as planned. Weston-Roy raised $55,000 via a fully-funded Kickstarter campaign a few weeks ago and is now moving ahead with her plan to open Milwaukee's first black-owned bookshop since The Reader's Choice closed in 2017.

"I'm putting all of the the little pieces together and will hopefully have a grand opening in May," says Weston-Roy.

Niche Book Bar will focus on selling and promoting black literature by established and emerging writers. It will also have a cafe with wine, coffee and tea.

Weston-Roy says she fell in love with reading at the age of 6, and realized in 2018 opening a bookstore was what she wanted to do with her life.

"I initially used to dream of this as a place I would go to visit and to buy books, but I switched my focus after a conversation with a coworker and I realized it was up to me to complete this vision," she says.

Weston-Roy was born in Florida, grew up there and Racine, Wis. and currently lives in Wauwatosa. She is the author of a children's book and will publish her second book in February.

"When The Reader's Choice closed it left a void which I'm hoping to fill with my bookstore," she says. "But it's going to be more than that, too. I want to provide an awesome community space that's a positive place for people and local authors to interact and get their work more visible by the public eye."

Stay tuned to OnMilwaukee for a First Look when Niche Book Bar opens this May. Follow Niche's progress via its Facebook page.