Book + Bottle Overcomes Business Challenges During COVID-19

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — After opening a downtown St. Petersburg book and wine bar in March and being forced to close days later because of Florida's Phase 1 restrictions at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Book + Bottle owner Terra Dunham, did not have time to live in fear of losing her business.

"I think it all went by so fast that I didn't have time to be scared, which was really good nor did I have a chance," Dunham told Patch. "I was really frustrated because the space is beautiful and I'd spent all this time on doing an in-person business to bring people together, and then all of a sudden I couldn't bring people together."

Dunham, 35, a St. Pete native, was thankful she could pay her bills from the money she made as she delivered books and wine from her store to customers at home during the two-month shutdown.

As happy as she felt to reopen the doors of her new business in May, Dunham said she also felt scared because even though people missed pre-coronavirus times of hanging outside their house, did that mean they would actually go back out to businesses?

"It became the business owners' job to protect the people so for me, it was this constant thing of, 'Am I doing enough? Am I being safe? Am I being greedy by being open?' I quickly realized I felt comfortable here (at Book + Bottle) every day," Dunham said.

Tables are spaced out in Dunham's book and wine bar and there is outside seating. She wasn't worried about overcrowding, an advantage of being a new business that is in the early stages of the community discovering.

The store has attracted its regulars who pop in daily for their cup of coffee or glass of wine.

In addition to books and wine, Book + Bottle also has a coffee bar. Wine can be ordered by the glass or bottle. Books that fit matching categories are placed on shelves that line the walls.

"My biggest wish is that I want this to be a community place, and we're trying to do that as much as we can safely, but as we return more and more to normal that this is a great place to meet people and to find people with common interests and share your love for book and wine."

A vacation in Chicago with two of her friends sparked her business idea for Book + Bottle while she was living and working in Colorado at a tech startup.

Her friends, who also live in St. Pete, encouraged her on their vacation to move back to St. Petersburg but Dunham resisted because she was happy with her career in Colorado. They started daydreaming about the perfect business to own, and when Dunham went back to her hotel that night she gave serious thought to opening a business, and she realized St. Petersburg and its eclectic, artsy and open-minded community would be the perfect place to open Book + Bottle.

Book + Bottle, 17 6th St N, is open Tues. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wed. through Sat. from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sun. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information about events, books and wine, visit Book + Bottle.