A small, family-owned enterprise, The Guide Lounge will formally open to the general public on Nov. 8 in a celebration that may happen from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Photograph by Julia Birdsall | The Crow’s Nest
By Julia Birdsall
A love of studying has been handed down via a number of generations of the Calleja household, and all of it has manifested in The Guide Lounge, a brand new native bookstore opening in downtown St. Petersburg this month.
Natalya Calleja and her complete workforce, together with her daughter and co-owner, Pamela, a College of South Florida St. Petersburg pupil, have been working to arrange The Guide Lounge for its opening ceremony on Nov. 8.
“What I needed is [for] this workforce to mirror that range and completely different vibe that St. Pete has,” Natalya stated. “I needed our folks, our group and our clients to see themselves in our employees.”
The shop will also be a useful resource for different college students on the St. Petersburg campus, Natalya stated, noting that college students may have the house to focus and do homework or come, have enjoyable and meet new folks.
She has additionally labored to make sure that the costs of meals and drinks on the retailer are affordable for school college students.
“I’m attempting to maintain it in order that it’s inexpensive for everybody to come back, sit and loosen up with us,” she stated.
Although the shop solely affords fiction books, it additionally affords a short lived escape from the stressors of life, based on Natalya.
“I feel studying fiction and placing your[self] in anyone else’s sneakers or main a distinct life or seeing how different authors inform their tales and placing your self in that scenario, I feel it adjustments you, a method or one other,” Natalya stated, as a result of it promotes empathy.
Fostering empathy has been on the core of Natalya’s mission when dreaming up The Guide Lounge, and he or she has introduced collectively a workforce of 5 staff who she believes may help obtain this purpose.
The enterprise started in early 2024, when Pamela, a freshman world enterprise main on the College of South Florida St. Petersburg, started promoting blind dates with books – a thriller bag that features curated stickers and sweet – at markets.
This enterprise was so profitable that Pamela was in a position to save important quantities of cash, a few of which she used to put money into The Guide Lounge alongside her mom, Natalya Calleja.
Natalya informed The Crow’s Nest that the concept behind the bookstore got here from a love of studying that was handed down from her mom to her, and that she handed on to Pamela and her different daughters.
The affect of household could be present in each nook of the shop, from the e-book that Natalya acquired as a present from her grandfather that’s on show within the retailer and acts as “good luck,” to the wall of board video games that Natalya’s different daughter, Camilla Calleja, helped curate, impressed by the household’s ongoing custom of sport nights.
They wish to foster this identical sort of connection for members of the St. Petersburg group, which is why they intend to host group sport nights each Thursday.
Photograph by Julia Birdsall | The Crow’s Nest
One other method that she’s working in the direction of together with the St. Petersburg group in her retailer is by dedicating a bookshelf to native and impartial authors, in addition to internet hosting two impartial creator e-book signings each month, starting in January.
Although she lived within the Tampa Bay space for many years, Natalya solely lately moved to St. Petersburg. It has at all times been a dream of hers as a result of, as a Hispanic girl, she feels that the group is a secure place for her and her kids.
The transfer has additionally made it simpler for Pamela to attend USF St. Petersburg. She first started her journey promoting books as a method to put together her for a enterprise diploma and Natalya believes that the lessons Pamela is taking will “complement actual time train” at The Guide Lounge.
Photograph by Julia Birdsall | The Crow’s Nest
After the everlasting closing of one other household owned and operated bookstore, Haslam’s Guide Retailer, St. Petersburg residents have been involved.
“Hope somebody buys it and reopens quickly… we actually miss that place,” a consumer wrote on a Reddit thread concerning the retailer.
The Guide Lounge, then, is likely to be an thrilling growth for residents.
A preview occasion was hosted on Oct. 28, at which The Guide Lounge acquired overwhelmingly optimistic suggestions from attendees, stated Natalya.
Quickly, The Guide Lounge shall be open as a vibrant house for group gathering and enjoyable. It’s “greater than a bookstore,” stated the shop’s website, and Natalya, her household and her workforce “hope it turns into your new favourite place in Downtown St. Pete.”
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