When you walk into Parthenon Books, you are greeted by shelves of books, a comfy cafe, and a giant mural of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, one of three murals in the store hand painted by a local artist. Station across from the Landmark Theater on South Salina Street, the new bookstore is the first in over 30 years to open in Downtown Syracuse. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The store\u2019s manager, Selena Giampa, hopes for the store to not only reside in the heart of downtown, but for it to become a heart of the Syracuse community.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt has been a lifelong dream of mine to open a bookstore,\u201d Giampa said when asked what inspired her to help open a bookstore downtown. \u201cI worked for Border\u2019s at Carousel when it was Carousel Mall for a lot of years. I\u2019ve worked at Books and Melodies before it was Books and Melodies. I\u2019ve worked at the public library for four years. So, books are where I feel comfortable. Combined with the fact that every time my daughter and I go anywhere\u2013if we take a road trip, if we go to any towns\u2013we always look for the little independent bookstore. We usually find a lot of really good ones in every city we go to, and Syracuse just doesn\u2019t have that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Her dream to manage an independent bookstore became a serendipitous reality in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was laid off from her previous job and talked with a friend who helped her manifest her goal.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have a friend who is very into karma and all that stuff. She\u2019s a massage therapist and she\u2019s like, \u2018come on in and we\u2019ll talk and send something out into the universe.\u2019 And she asked me that question that people ask: If you could do anything and money wasn\u2019t an object, what would you do? And I said that I have always wanted to run an independent bookstore. We talked about downtown being a really good place to do it and I just didn\u2019t have the means to do it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe very next day,\u201d she continued, \u201cshe was with Steve Case, the Acropolis Realty Group guy. They were looking at a space and at the very end, Steve said, \u2018hey, I own this building and I got this great spot. I want to put a bookstore downtown, but I don\u2019t know anything about books. Do you know anybody?\u2019 So, when I say that this was dropped into my lap, it was literally. We put it out there and it came.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n However, the reality of operating a bookstore was something Giampa would have never imagined for herself a few years ago.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was in a really, really dark place a few years ago,\u201d she explained. \u201cAbout five years ago, I was in a very abusive relationship. I\u2019ve suffered from depression and anxiety my whole life. It was not physical abuse, but it was very mentally abusive and I was very stuck. I was suicidal. I was hospitalized a couple of times and found a good therapist and began the process of rebuilding. It was really difficult for me to leave the relationship entirely and so there was this process of me trying to gradually separate and learn my own strengths, learning that I have answers inside of me, I just have to look for them.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n After overcoming several personal struggles, Giampa is now using her strength and sense of hope to create a bookstore where everyone can feel welcomed. And a part of creating a new space for the community involved joining Steve Case and Ryan Benz \u2013 the owner of downtown restaurant Oh My Darling \u2013 in their efforts to revitalize Downtown Syracuse.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was really important for us to be a part of the downtown revitalization,\u201d she said about the collaboration. \u201cWe have this idea that Salina Street should be Main Street again. I\u2019m old enough to remember when downtown was the exciting place to go shopping. And I feel like there\u2019s a lot of restaurants, there\u2019s a lot of boutiques, but there really isn\u2019t anywhere on Salina Street where people can go and gather and get a snack and just wander around for a couple hours.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to that, I think there\u2019s a value to books and reading,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe want to be able to interact with customers and introduce them to new ideas or inspire them to find new things on their own. As divided as we are, just all of us have kind of chosen sides. I want to be a place where everyone can come and explore new ideas or maybe get some information on their current ideas and not feel like we\u2019re excluding anybody.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n She also plans to make Parthenon Books a place where people can not only buy books and gifts, but also a place where community members can come together. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to try and partner with a lot of organizations, literacy groups, maybe some youth groups, LGBTQ groups, maybe some churches to have workshops and events that draw in different groups,\u201d she replied, when asked how the bookstore will serve the community. \u201cWhen we started planning this, we thought a lot about our customer base and it was like, \u2018oh, there\u2019s a lot of well-educated, single people and they live and work downtown.\u2019 And then we started to really walk around and look around. There\u2019s a <\/span><\/span>huge <\/i><\/span><\/span>underserved community that lives downtown and we want to be able to serve them. We want to be able to offer something for everybody.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n On the store\u2019s opening weekend, Linda Lowen, author of <\/span><\/span>100 Things to do in Syracuse<\/i><\/span><\/span> hosted an event for Parthenon Books\u2019s grand opening. As the manager of a community bookstore, Giampa wants to offer more local merchandise and host more local authors, stating that, \u201cLocal is our jam.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve reached out to local authors, we\u2019re currently reviewing them. We\u2019re going to have a program that\u2019s consignment where we bring local author books in for a couple of months and see how they go. If they do well, we\u2019ll bring them in. But we\u2019re doing the same with local artists. We\u2019ve got three murals by local artists. We\u2019ve reached out to artists who do things like postcards and greeting cards and bookmarks and stickers. And our bakers, we\u2019re using local bakeries for a majority of our stuff. We are light on local authors right now, I\u2019ll be honest with you. But we\u2019re working on building that. That\u2019s a really important part of our store.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n You can visit the new store in person at 333 South Salina Street in Downtown Syracuse.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Visit parthenonbookstore.com for more information about events and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Alyssa Dearborn When you walk into Parthenon Books, you are greeted by shelves of books, a comfy cafe, and a giant mural of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, one of three murals in the store hand painted by a local artist. Station across from the Landmark Theater on South Salina Street,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1211,1213,1214,1210,1212,136],"class_list":["post-3218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-feature","tag-bookstore","tag-downtown-bookstore","tag-local-business","tag-parthenon-books","tag-selena-giampa","tag-special-feature"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/889E2F01-74E0-47AE-A30A-98BE74064D0417259-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1744,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1744","url_meta":{"origin":3218,"position":0},"title":"Glazed & Confused","author":"Staff","date":"April 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Getting Glazed & Confused By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Steven J. Pallone \u201cWhy doughnuts... why not?\u201d mused Sarah Valenti, co-owner of Glazed & Confused, the newly-opened doughnut shop on Clinton Street in downtown Syracuse. \u201cEverybody loves doughnuts.\u201d Based on their first half-year in a brick-and-mortar location \u2014 they opened\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3796-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3796-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3796-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3796-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_3796-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2076,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2076","url_meta":{"origin":3218,"position":1},"title":"The Fish Friar","author":"Staff","date":"September 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Bringing Fresh Seafood Downtown By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Steven J. Pallone\u00a0 When The Fish Friar co-owner, Giovanni Giardina, began his career in the Syracuse restaurant industry at Alto Cinco, he was asked why he wanted to join the team. \u201cI want to open up my own restaurant one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_0082.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_0082.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_0082.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_0082.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_0082.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1894,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1894","url_meta":{"origin":3218,"position":2},"title":"The Ice Cream Stand","author":"Staff","date":"June 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Bringing Syracuse Year-round Sweetness By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Steven J. Pallone\u00a0 About three years ago, Central New York native Amanda Hughes discovered a new favorite spot in her hometown: Clinton Square. Amanda had returned home after attending college at Duke University and earning an MBA in marketing from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_7287.jpg?fit=1200%2C737&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_7287.jpg?fit=1200%2C737&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_7287.jpg?fit=1200%2C737&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_7287.jpg?fit=1200%2C737&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_7287.jpg?fit=1200%2C737&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2171,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2171","url_meta":{"origin":3218,"position":3},"title":"In her own words: Alexis Cohen","author":"Staff","date":"December 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Alexis Cohen is director of special events and community engagement, Marriott Syracuse Downtown. SWM: What\u2019s your first memory at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown? Alexis: I was a flower girl for my uncle\u2019s wedding in the Grand Ballroom. Fast forward 20-plus years and I watched one of my weddings unfold and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=101"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_0626_V2_HighRes.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_0626_V2_HighRes.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_0626_V2_HighRes.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_0626_V2_HighRes.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_0626_V2_HighRes.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1074,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1074","url_meta":{"origin":3218,"position":4},"title":"Prontofresh","author":"Staff","date":"September 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Fast and Fresh Food\u00a0 By Samantha McCormick | Photography by Steven J. Pallone\u00a0 Francesc and Luciana Mari \u2014 the dynamic duo behind downtown Syracuse\u2019s Prontofresh \u2014 are the perfect culinary couple. The husband and wife team use local produce to craft panini, salads, wraps, sandwiches and more, and proudly serve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=99"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_3905-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_3905-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_3905-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_3905-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_3905-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2814,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2814","url_meta":{"origin":3218,"position":5},"title":"SYRACUSE EATS: Oh My Darling!","author":"Staff","date":"February 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"By Larry Stansbury Photos by Steven J. Pallone \u00a0 Just across the street from the Landmark Theatre, there\u2019s a place in the downtown Syracuse area that recreates the image of the old theater and honors the Syracuse orange colors. It\u2019s also the place to honor its crowd with a wine\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=101"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0380-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0380-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0380-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0380-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0380-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3221,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3218\/revisions\/3221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/594C26B4-722D-4508-9A82-ED939612976417257-225x300.jpeg?resize=329%2C438&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n