A brand new spot to curl up with a book and a cup of joe is about to open in Uptown Port Alberni.
Located next door to Steampunk Cafe, Artemis Books has opened its doors after months of preparations.
“It’s obvious—a bookstore and a coffee shop are symbiotic,” said Steampunk Cafe owner Kevin Wright.
Artemis Books will be owned and operated by Paul Groeveneld, with the space leased to him by Wright, who’s been right in the middle of preparations, from spray painting the ceiling panels in a steampunk style to deciding on the layout.
“I’m trying to bring some more culture to the Uptown area and this is what the book shop is all about,” says Wright.
To Wright, whose Sprout business concept lays out how the often large, empty retail spaces in Uptown can be utilized, this is an opportunity to show what can be done.
“I believe that this is what an entrepreneurial spirit is all about—taking the risks, seeing the potential and actually moving forward.”
For Groeneveld, his reasoning for operating the bookstore was simple.
“I like books,” he said. “I had a positive experience working in a bookstore previously and it was time to do my own.”
Groeneveld, who grew up in Port Alberni, has always had a passion for reading and education.
“I like promoting education and knowledge and books are one of the best ways to do that,” he said. “I think everyone should read.”
While he’ll be exploring the possibility of e-books in the future, Groeneveld himself likes to keep it old school.
“There’s something to be said for taking a book and flipping a page… I just like books.”
And Artemis Books will have a lot of them.
From kids books, mass market fiction to recipe books, Groeveneld plans to keep an eclectic selection.
“It will be a bit of everything. We’ll have books of interest to local people, for example local history stuff, books for hikers,” he said.
“We’re not going to specialize in any one thing, Port Alberni is too small for a specialized bookstore.”
But Port Alberni isn’t the bookstore’s only target.
“It’s not just Port Alberni we’ll be marketing to, it’s also the West Coast. So anything that has to filter through Port Alberni and go to Nanaimo, we want them to preferably stop here instead.”
Getting people their books as quickly and easily as possible is the reasoning behind another service Artemis Books will offer: online ordering that will remove the hassle for customers.
“We’ll be doing special orders of books,” Groeneveld said.
reporter@albernivalleynews.com
