Cultura Books is currently open on limited hours at 606 Haddon Ave. in Collingswood, N.J., as owners Michael Maffei and Ashley Staropoli "continue to stock books, organize the space, and work toward a grand opening they tentatively expect in early November," the Retrospect reported.
The store's inventory include bestsellers, anticipated releases, and children's books, with an emphasis on authors and marginalized perspectives often overlooked by and within mainstream publishing. "We really believe that books are a powerful tool in terms of helping people to learn and to expose a reader to not only creativity and imagination but also to experiences that are different than one's own," Staropoli said.
Opening a bookstore had long been one of the couple's shared ambitions. Maffei previously worked in real estate finance in New York. Staropoli, who has a legal background, said they began looking for a location about 15 months ago. "Why does it have to be just a kind of fantasy? We can do it, why not us? When are we going to do it? Another lifetime?" Maffei said.
A back room in the location currently is being used for inventory and supplies. Plans call for adding hallway shelving and reorganizing storage so the room can eventually become a place for events and programs. "The physical transformation is part of a larger vision for Cultura: a bookstore that functions as a gathering place as much as a retail space," the Retrospect wrote.
"I view it as a real opportunity to expose the community and highlight those in the community who are already here, and help spread their message and raise awareness of differences that we can celebrate within our community," Staropoli said
The owners envision a future calendar of programming that includes story times, author events, workshops, writing groups, and poetry programs. They are also considering children's and adult book clubs, music programming and yoga. They added that their aim is to create a place where someone can buy a new release, pick out a children's book, hear an author, join a workshop, and encounter neighbors through stories and real experiences, the Retrospect noted.
"For people who are maybe not the same degree of book lovers, we'd like to dangle enough things that kind of pique their interest, so that they enjoy their experience in the bookstore and want to come back here or to another bookstore," Maffei said.
Staropoli added: "We want people to be able to come in and feel that they could find something that speaks to them and also come in feeling that they're welcome, that this is a place where they feel accepted."