‘Judging by the Cover’ bookstore relocating from Fresno’s Chinatown. Here are the details
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judging by the Cover will relocate to South Tower with a May grand opening planned.
- South Tower Community Land Trust owns the new property and will also operate inside.
- Bookstore plans an Indie Bookstore Day sale before leaving Chinatown.
The Judging by the Cover bookstore — known for featuring books by women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community — is moving out of its Chinatown location and into a new home in the South Tower area of Fresno.
Ashley Mireles-Guerrero, who owns the bookstore with her husband, Carlos Guerrero, says Judging by the Cover will relocate to 617 Fulton St., where it will host a grand opening event in May. The bookstore will be a retail tenant of the South Tower Community Land Trust, which recently acquired the 2,300-square-foot building and is also building its headquarters there.
“We are trying to get stuff off the shelves as fast as possible,” Mireles-Guerrero told The Fresno Bee on Thursday. “That way we don’t have to re-box everything.”
Judging by the Cover opened inside The Pop-Up Place, a micro-business incubator on F Street in Chinatown, in late 2024 after first operating as a pop-up business. The bookstore is known for offering literature that has been targeted for bans, putting on community events and for publicly taking a stand on social issues.
The bookstore will announce a “big blowout sale” before leaving Chinatown. Mireles-Guerrero is planning for the sale to align with Indie Bookstore Day, which is the last Saturday in April, or April 25 this year.
Judging by the Cover, South Tower Land Trust to have new home
The bookstore’s location in Chinatown’s Pop-Up Place was always meant to be temporary, as incubators typically intend to help businesses get a start.
Mireles-Guerrero said Judging by the Cover has been working on its move with the South Tower Community Land Trust since last year.
Kiel Lopez-Schmidt, executive director of the land trust, said the organization is focused on community control of land for “the shared prosperity and health of the community.” Typically, that involves investing in properties to create affordable housing.
“But also there’s a lot of need for community spaces and community-centered businesses within the Tower District,” Lopez-Schmidt said.
The land trust acquired the property last year. Renovation work is expected to begin soon on the building, which was built in the 1950s, and should be completed by late April, Lopez-Schmidt said.
The bookstore will operate as a retail tenant of the land trust, which will also build its new headquarters inside the Fulton Street building. Lopez-Schmidt said many of Judging by the Cover’s customers live in the area, and the new location will offer customers walkability.
This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 5:17 PM.
