Lake Worth, Florida
Attention book lovers and authors!
A spiffy new bookstore is set to open in Lake Worth. It’s called Book Cellar, and the grand opening is a week from today, Friday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. Y’all come.
Book Cellar is a welcome addition to a locale deficient in independent bookstores. Let’s see … there’s Classic Bookshop in Palm Beach, Murder on the Beach in Delray Beach … and … and … that’s it.
Oh sure, an assortment of stores carrying used, antiquarian and Christian books dot the landscape. And a few popular stores feature small book sections: Hand’s Office and Art Supply in downtown Delray Beach, Green’s Pharmacy of Palm Beach, and the posh town’s Breakers News & Gourmet.
Murder in Palm Beach: The Homicide That Never Died, by yours truly, is on hand at Hand’s and Green’s, and used to, at least, be in the Breakers store. Classic also stocks it. Murder on the Beach, which does not cater to local authors, once carried it.
Big store
Book Cellar exterior
Book Cellar is a sizable space at 2,300 square feet, smack in the middle of the downtown at 801 Lake Ave. It’s a family enterprise, with Tamara Ayraud (eye row) as manager and co-owner. She has said the store expects to stock about 2,000 titles, including classic books, modern literature and children’s books. Her sister, Danica, and brother-in-law Arvin, who operate a bookstore/coffee shop in Colorado, will assist with the operation, as will Claire Ayraud, their mother.
Claire, herself a writer, said they want to include qualified local authors, and several have stopped by to inquire. (I’m hoping to have Murder in Palm Beach in the store.)
Originally, the plans included a café serving coffee, beer and wine, and sandwiches in the front of the facility, but Tamara said costs were proving higher than anticipated, and the café would be delayed until possibly next summer. Employees so far number three full-time and two part-time.
The space had lain dormant for a long time, and it’s owners, Michael and Laura King, spent a considerable sum to restore it.