Indio’s first independent bookstore coming to former Oasis on Miles music venue

The Indio City Council approved a commercial lease agreement that would bring the city’s first independent bookstore to downtown.

The lease would allow Downtowne Bookstore, Inc. to occupy two city-owned buildings at 82713 and 82719 Miles Avenue, totaling about 3,456 square feet. This will be the third location for Downtowne Bookstore, the original opened in Riverside in 1979 and new owner Dr. Jungmiwha Bullock took over the store 2024 and opened a second Riverside location in 2025.

The Indio location will serve as a community-focused literary and cultural hub, hosting author events and arts programming while offering books and merchandise.

The lease term runs five years and monthly rent will be $1,728, with a $3,000 security deposit. Rent payments will not begin until Aug. 1, 2028, two years after the city delivers keys to the tenant.

The city will provide a tenant improvement allowance of up to $120,000 for construction costs, paid in three installments: $72,000 when building permits are issued, up to $24,000 upon documentation of expenses, and $24,000 within 30 days of the store’s opening. The city is also waiving building permit, plan check and inspection fees associated with the improvements.

The bookstore is required to operate at least six days a week.

The staff report frames the lease as part of continued momentum in downtown Indio, where more than $200 million has been invested in completed, active and planned projects. Recent business openings include Dune Room, The Place, Saguaro Coffee, Indio Taphouse, Italica, Gabino’s Creperie, Desert Beer Co, Everbloom, Donna Forte Pizza Bar & Grill and Nexus House. Additional projects in the pipeline include a College of the Desert campus expansion, a new Child Development Center and more than 110 mixed-use apartment units.

---