The Pickup's Culture coverage is brought to you by Tulsa Artists' Coalition Gallery, 40 Years of Empowering Tulsa Artists. Visit TAC Gallery to see American Highway Revisited by VC Torneden and Melinda Harvey Green, June 5 – 27, 2026.
With the closure of Whitty Books in 2025, Kendall Whittier was left with a niche-bookstore-shaped hole. When Fulton Street Books packed up shop just a few months later, that hole grew and the future of unique, local bookstores in Tulsa seemed shaky. Thankfully, 2026 has brought two (count ‘em!) community-focused bookstores to fill that void. Meadow Market Books covers the Cherry Street area, but as a KW native, I yearned for another place close by.
Enter the founders of Palomino Books and Music: Paloma Lopez and Agalisiga “Chuj” Mackey. Together, the couple set out to create a space that celebrated their family’s blend of Cherokee and Mexican heritage. Growing up in and around Kendall Whittier my entire life, I knew the neighborhood as this particular Indigenous and Latine blend. It feels natural for a multicultural community hub to move in and complement the rest of the wonderful, locally-owned spots in KW. It’s a reflection of Tulsa as well, as we are just as much of a melting pot as any other urban area.
Palomino is a touch different from Tulsa’s other new and used bookstores: it will focus on providing multilingual books and a space for live music on top of various community resources. Lopez is an author and Mackey is a musician, which makes this combination a fitting one. With a wink, Lopez said “we are good at creating things together, whether it be creative projects or pretty babies.”
Walking into Palomino Books and Music for their Third Thursday pop-up, I immediately noticed the inviting nature of the store. The space is colorful, full of art (with more on the way), and bright. This is a space not only to explore Spanish-language and Indigenous-created literary works, but to browse Tulsa’s local music scene as well. It’s simply thrilling to see CDs from local musicians paired thoughtfully next to kids’ graphic novels. I could feel the love for Tulsa and Oklahoma throughout the space.
During last week’s mini preview, shop-goers were excited, chatty, and browsing. It feels like Mackey and Lopez are creating something cool. The entire idea is to engage with the community. Included in their vision are dreams of bilingual storytimes, zine workshops, Cherokee language classes, and other opportunities for Tulsans to connect and learn. It’s clear that Palomino is walking the walk: the store’s merch is produced hyper-locally by neighbors Friendship Print Guild, and for the pop-up they provided a selection of sweet treats from Kendall Whittier institution Pancho Anaya Bakery.
The collaborative spirit of Kendall Whittier is alive at Palomino. While the store is still stripped-back in preparation for their opening, its promise as a community hub is already taking shape.
Agalisiga Mackey is christening the listening room portion of Palomino’s business model on July 3, but you can get a first look at the shop during their July 1 soft opening.
Q&A WITH PALOMA LOPEZ
In your words, what makes Palomino different from other bookstores in Tulsa?
Lopez: We are very fortunate in Tulsa to have a pretty incredible selection of used and new bookstores. I think the standout difference is our listening room element where we plan to feature various local and guest artists! Our store also has a strong emphasis on multicultural and multilingual storytelling, specifically that which reflects our community of Kendall Whittier, Tulsa, and really this region at large. At the moment, our inventory and plans for future programming really center Indigenous and Mexican/Latine experiences because that is our own families’ cultural blend, but we hope to engage with other communities and build authentic relationships.
All of that said, we really don’t want to be a place where folks only peruse and brush past their neighbor. We want people to come to Palomino to engage, to collaborate, laugh, cry, listen, etc. I guess we will see if it works in our favor!
Why Kendall Whittier? What brought y’all to the area?
Lopez: Both Agalisiga and I grew up outside of the Tulsa area. He grew up between Kenwood and Tahlequah in the Cherokee Nation, and I bounced between New Mexico and California. We came to know Kendall Whittier via our friends and now neighbors at Pursuit Films. As we came to know the rich arts scene in Tulsa through Agalisiga’s music, Kendall Whittier became the spot we would find ourselves circling back to. For myself, I had begun to feel isolated from other Mexicans and although I have been very embraced by folks in the Cherokee Nation, I still wanted to maintain a strong connection to my community and Kendall Whittier is where I saw my own people. Agalisiga and I both really hope we can be not only an asset but of service to the community of Kendall Whittier.
What does your ideal day at the store look like? What are your hopes for the store?
Lopez: Always a steady stream of guests would be lovely of course! At the beginning of our week, ideally we would have a bilingual storytime, maybe an author signing copies of their new book, and folks picking up a book they see themselves in. Definitely multiple generations enjoying exploring the titles and other items on our shelves! Towards the end of the week, [we’d like to see] all of the above but with a badass musical performance in the evening.
Y’all both are multi-hyphenate creators—it seems natural for there to be a multi-hyphenate space in Tulsa like this. What made you want to create this space now, in this current moment in Tulsa?
Lopez: Palomino was born from our collective imagination and experience. Agalisiga and I are both approaching our mid-20s, and we have found ourselves in a culturally rich community at a time where there is a lot of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. Opening a business is probably not a lot of folks’ first reaction, but for us I think we used that energy to take a leap into something joyful and community-centered.
