Sam Weller’s Bookstore will be starting a new chapter in January with a move to Trolley Square and a just-announced new name and new focus.---

Tony Weller gave a preview Wednesday of the bookstore’s future Trolley Square home of the downtown bookstore—rebranded in its new space as Weller Book Works.

Construction is set to be completed on Dec. 23, and the grand opening for Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. The Main Street location will remain open through Christmas Eve.

The Trolley location—formerly Trolley Square Cinemas—is around 10,000 square feet, Weller said, which is close to the space of the main floor and mezzanine of the Main Street location. “We’re losing a basement, but we’re gaining free parking,” Weller said.

Other changes outlined by Weller include a new emphasis on curation—stocking books that people want to own, rather than books people simply want to use. Author signings and events will still be a focus, with small events taking place on the main floor, and events for larger-draw authors, such as David Sedaris, taking place in the atrium to the east of the store.

The name change was decided in part, Weller said, because the word “store” is too stagnant. “Works” is a much more active word, one that better fits the company’s mission to engage people with good books and good community.

This blog will be updated later today with more photos and information about the move, future plans for the company and Weller's decision to leave Main Street.