Ceres family opens city’s only bookstore, with sandwich shop coming soon
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- Ceres Chamber of Commerce president and ger family opened BK Bookstore and Lil Papa’s Sandwiches in Ceres.
- BK Bookstore offers books, CPR classes, game nights and community book events.
- Lil Papa’s menu features family-inspired items with direct local delivery service.
Patience has paid off for a Ceres couple who are not just opening one, but two, downtown businesses.
Brandy Meyer wanted to open a bookstore around a decade ago, but an acquaintance talked her out of it, saying it may not be the right time.
She started thinking about it more seriously around a year ago and, in January, left messages for a building owner with two units available at 2943 and 2947 Fourth St. in Ceres.
One unit was a chiropractor’s office, the other was a Mexican restaurant. Both had been vacant for a number of years.
Meyer and her husband, Keith, met with the owner and discussed their vision: BK Bookstore & More in one unit and Lil Papa’s Sandwiches next door.
“BK, most people think it’s Brandy and Keith but it’s not,” Brandy Meyer said. “It’s Brandy and Kendall.”
An avid reader and a teacher at Cesar Chavez Junior High School in Ceres, Kendall Meyer is Brandy and Keith Meyer’s youngest of five children. She’s also a big reason her parents wanted to open a bookstore.
The love of books started with mom-and-daughter dates to local bookstores and blossomed into them being among the first to buy books as soon as they come out.
“We’re the bookstore and (Keith) is the food,” Brandy Meyer said.
Family will open sandwich shop next to its bookstore
Keith and Brandy Meyer’s 10 grandchildren call them “Nana” and “Papa.” One of the grandkids is named Keith.
“Our other grandson, Evan, didn’t want to call him Keith because he was a baby,” Brandy Meyer said. “So he started calling them Papa and Little Papa. When we were trying to come up with a name for the sandwich shop, it just stuck in my head.”
Keith Meyer has a “pretty heavy” restaurant background, he said, and he and Brandy owned a catering business before moving to Ceres from San Jose in 1994. He is the brain and the chef behind Lil Papa’s.
The menu will include sandwiches — each named after a family member and reflecting that person’s favorite recipe — gourmet hot dogs and salads, as well breakfast items including biscuits and gravy, waffles, and continental-style items.
The restaurant will offer delivery, but its employees will do the job rather than go through a third-party vendor.
The Meyers plan to cut the wall that separates BK Bookstore and Lil Papa’s, creating an open passageway between the two.
Lil Papa’s will be open in three or more weeks, pending required inspections. Hours will be Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Ceres bookstore owner heavily involved in community
Brandy Meyer is a woman of many hats. She and her husband are co-chairs for Love Ceres, she’s the president and CEO of the Ceres Chamber of Commerce and she owns Meyer CPR & First Aid.
“The title of the store is actually BK Bookstore & More because the ‘more’ is that we’re going to be having events (in the back area),” she said.
One of those will be regular CPR and first aid classes because Brandy Meyer will move her CPR business from its shared office space with Ceres Chamber of Commerce. The current space accommodates six to eight people, while the bookstore can fit 20.
Other events will include bunco nights, chess nights, paint classes and mother-daughter book clubs.
BK Bookstore sells both new and used books across genres including mystery, fiction, nonfiction, romance, politics, thriller, history, true crime, action, fantasy, western, religion and self-help. The store also has a children’s section, which is still developing.
“We want to get as many books into kids’ hands as we can,” Brandy Meyer said.
To start, Brandy Meyer received 15,000 books from the owners of Lightly Used Books in Turlock after they announced the store’s closure. BK has a program that gives store credit for books brought in.
BK Bookstore opened Friday, and the Meyers still plan much for their business, including fundraising for scholarships for high school students and a program for families to sign up for a free book monthly.
It is the only bookstore in Ceres.
“It’s great we didn’t open 10 years ago because it wasn’t mean to be then,” Brandy Meyer said. “It’s meant to be now, and now we’re ready for it.”
The bookstore is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit instagram.com/bkbooksandmore for more information on upcoming events and classes.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 10:40 AM.
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