Worker beside a tree-lined Medley sidewalk and a covered storefront reading Pardon Our Secrets. — A worker stands along a Medley sidewalk beside a covered storefront promising “something exciting” ahead. *Photo: North Atlanta Star.*

Hollow Oak opens Thursday, Oct. 29, at Medley in Johns Creek, bringing an independent bookstore and lifestyle shop built around an increasingly unusual idea: spending time away from screens.

Johns Creek resident Katie Bossie founded the store after a decade in software sales. She grew up in what is now Johns Creek and has lived in the community for more than 30 years, making the opening both a business launch and a homecoming.

The shop at 4130 Medley Boulevard combines books with stationery, art, records, CDs, home goods, bath and body products, toys and games. It will also feature objects associated with analog living, including writing tools and vintage-inspired goods.

Bossie has envisioned Hollow Oak as a place where customers can exchange scrolling for reading, making things and spending time together. The shop emphasizes handmade and small-batch merchandise and says it will not carry books, art or music generated by artificial intelligence.

The store’s name comes from The Message in the Hollow Oak, a Nancy Drew mystery that helped establish Bossie’s childhood love of books. She bought the Hollow Oak domain in 2021, years before the store became a physical project.

The design draws inspiration from the 1960s and 1970s, with an emphasis on materials and goods made by hand. Bossie has worked with creative partner Devin O’Guin and Johns Creek interior designer Mallori Hamilton of Uncommon Studios on the space.

A bookstore intended for gathering

Beyond the shelves, Hollow Oak plans book clubs, author talks, children’s story times, book swaps, craft nights and workshops, including knitting and printmaking. The aim is to make the shop somewhere customers return for experiences as well as purchases.

That approach gives Hollow Oak a distinctive place within Medley, the new Johns Creek district bringing together shops, restaurants, homes, offices and gathering spaces. The bookstore is among the locally rooted businesses joining larger national names for the development’s opening week.

In an interview with The Creek, Bossie spoke about encouraging visitors to step away from algorithms and return to tactile, creative and shared experiences.

Hollow Oak’s posted hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The shop is closed Mondays, with some classes and events expected outside regular hours.

The store is at 4130 Medley Boulevard in Johns Creek. Medley’s public grand-opening ribbon cutting takes place Thursday at 10 a.m. on The Plaza.