The Cranford Bookstore
Address: 1 South Avenue East, Cranford, NJ 07016
County: Union
Hours during the crawl: Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
Special Crawl Offering:
Raffle/door prize
For the reader who…
“wants a personalized experience, believe in supporting local and indie.”
Years in business: Opened September 2025
Fun fact: Lauren was a high school English teacher in NYC public schools, Kate helped to found the Asbury Park Book Co-Op. They met when their oldest kids were in kindergarten.
Experience our community: Cranford is one of the best downtowns out there. We joke that it's a real life Stars Hollow! There are tons of great coffee shops, restaurants, and local shops. We love The Morning Roast, Palmas, Track 5, Hickory and Hill General Store, Augusta Mae, Tiffany Pinero Style Co., Toast, The Cranford Hotel to name a few! We're also blocks away from the beautiful Rahway River if folks are looking for a nature walk.
Staff picks: We hear our vibes are "good.” In addition to staff picks, we have a table of children's recs from a local nursery school. They are thoughtful and hilarious, and really spark a lot of joy for everyone visiting.
“We are a women-owned community book store. We collaborate with local groups and schools, we stock based on local recommendations, and have become a real third space. Definite focus on new books but we do accept used book donations and have two full book cases dedicated to adult and children's used titles.”
Know before you go…
Parking & transportation
Paid street parking (Sundays are free)
Paid parking lots
Across the street from the Cranford train station
Accessibility
Public restroom available
Fully accessible front entrance and store
Children & pets
Has a children’s section
We are pet friendly and have dog treats on our counter
Looking forward to the crawl because…
“This is our first year as a brick and mortar store and we are THRILLED to get to be a part of this great event. Last year when we were looking for our space we talked about getting to be a part of the crawl, so we're really looking forward to welcoming everyone.”