Sweet Haven Books is one of the only bookstores in the Homestead-Key Largo area. The store had its grand opening on Nov. 6, 2021 in Cauley Square Historic Village. The owners chose to open the store in Cauley Sqaure because of the history behind the village, the good environment, and there are a lot of tourists from all over the country visiting the store.
“Cauley Square was the perfect location because we live here locally, and it has a sense of community,” Co-Owner of Sweet Haven Books, Jesus Castellat said.
Sweet Haven Books is a mom-and-pop shop, owned by husband and wife, Jesus Castellat and Patricia Medina. Medina came up with the idea to open a bookstore more than 15 years ago in Seattle because she has a passion for books and literature, so she wanted to share that with others.
“I have been wanting to own a bookstore for 15 years, but we were moving a lot, so I didn’t have the opportunity until now... but my husband came up with the idea to use vintage furniture to decorate the bookstore,” Co-owner of Sweet Haven Books, Patricia Medina said.
Medina and Castellat own a house from the 1920sand they have the same vision of their home in the bookstore. Castellat came up with the idea to shelve books in armoires, vintage tables, and other vintage furniture to keep the dust-off books but bring history into their store. There are two rooms in the bookstore that are a little different to the main area, the young adult and kid's rooms. The young adult room has newly released books shown on Tik Tok like Light lark and the kid’s room is designed like a camping ground. Medina said they designed the young adult and kid’s room differently because they understand that young people care more about what is modern and not what is historical or vintage.
“It’s a really cool place to visit, I really like the kids' reading room in the back,” customer Herb Iverson said, “We don’t have kids, but it seems like a cool place for a kid to go and read.”
When Medina and Castellat designed the store, they made sure to keep it small and quiet with a comfortable aura, so people can buy books or study. There are a lot of people that come into the store to study in the kids' room or in the back room. Castellat said that people keep coming to the store because the vibe of the store is good.
Medina said Sweet Haven Books sells a good mix of hardcover and paperback books. Medina orders the books based on what kind of style the publisher offers. Medina and Castellat make sure Sweet Haven Books has a good mix of new releases, youth books, historical fiction, rare, curated books etc. During the Christmas holidays, Sweet Haven Books sold the first edition of the Lord of the Ring series and other first editions related to the season. Sweet Haven Books has an armoire filled with blind date books. Each book has its own wax seal design and is wrapped around with twine. Medina and Castellat said they don’t put popular books in the blind date section because they want people to explore other unpopular genres like historical fiction and biographies. Sometimes the blind date books are curated to the season like Christmas or Father’s Day. Castellat said people can return their books, but they must make sure not to beat up the book.
“I like that the store has a good mix of books, like antique and new releases, Spanish, and different genres, "said Herb Iverson, customer.
Sweet Haven books host events like birthday parties, open mics, poetry readings, and book club. February has been slow, so they have not hosted events yet but are in the planning stages to host them for March.
Sweet Haven Books has a soft spot for local artists and small businesses, as they are a small business themselves. A couple a weeks ago a friend of the owners asked to put a display case with French pastries. The baker brings macaroons, pies, and other sweet treats into the store. Castellat said that the mini bakery has been a hit ever since they started. All around the store there are different book related items created by local artists. Some of the items found in the store are book covers, purses, and scrap books. Sweet Haven books even support local indie authors by offering to sell their books in the store.
“What we try to do every weekend is to have an event in the back cottage for indie authors to have an autograph signing and sell their books,” Medina said.
Medina said she is open minded when it comes to books and tries to bring that energy into the store. When an indie author comes into the store and asks if they can do an author signing or meet and greet, the owners agree if they can sell the book in the store. Sweet Haven Books does not charge the author anything to host a book signing and they do not have a requirement for the number of people that need to attend. Recently Sweet Haven books has hosted two author signings, Pieces of Me by Eddie Figz and Two Lives by Freya Zaldivar.
“We give people the opportunity to have the courage to express themselves,” Medina said.
According to Medina, Sweet Haven Books has done well in their first year of being open. There are months and days in the week when there are few customers because the season has been slow. February has been their slowest month because people have been trying to get out of the vacation mindset. They are closed on Monday and Tuesday but open the rest of the week. The weekdays are slower than weekends. Medina said that Sunday is their busiest day because people go to the Tea Room to have brunch and then walk around Cauley Square to explore the area. But Sweet Haven Books gets most of their business from tourists that come from all over the country.
“I have heard horror stories of businesses when they open their first year, and we knock on wood, it has been good, " Medina said, “We are very grateful for it.”
Comments