Detroit Army veteran turns abandoned building into community bookstore on city's west side

Jerjuan Howard, an Army veteran and youth advocate, spent a year and a half transforming a building that sat vacant for decades at the corner of Puritan and Lesure on Detroit's west side into the Howard Family Bookstore and café. Howard purchased the building in 2024 and says the bookstore, which is set to officially open Saturday, will give hundreds of children and families within a mile and a half a place to read, meet, and connect.