Midtown Reader bookstore, Tallahassee, Fla., is expanding with the launch of the Piebrary, an in-house café serving coffee, tea and pie. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that the Piebrary "is slated to open February 12 and will occupy space used by Argonaut Coffee, which is relocating after its lease expired last month and the coffee shop outgrew it."
"One of the things we've learned as a bookstore is that we're not just selling books," said owner Sally Bradshaw. "We're providing an experience.... I love the idea of pie by the slice, which is something I don't think we've really seen in Tallahassee so far, at least not at the level we'll be offering it."
Bradshaw's new venture is a partnership between Midtown Reader and TC Bakery, "another woman-owned business that's making a small but mighty mark in Midtown and beyond," the Democrat noted, adding that two weeks ago, "the Black-owned bakery moved from its Crawfordville Road Highway location to a larger space in Tallahassee to accommodate a growing retail demand."
TC Bakery owner Jennifer Young said Bradshaw reached out to her after residents responded to the bookstore's crowd-sourcing call for bakery suggestions. They met, Young provided a tasting, and Bradshaw said the bakery's sampling was too good to pass up.
"I love women-owned businesses and so a lot of those women I look up to," Young said. "To be able to partner with them, it's really just the icing on the cake."
Bradshaw added: "We're very passionate about being small business owners and bringing something new to Tallahassee, and I think we're going to be a great team."