St. Pete Beach's first independent bookstore, Read the Waves, set to open later this year
/St. Pete Beach residents and visitors will soon be able to enjoy an experience that’s becoming rarer and rarer in these times: perusing the shelves of a locally owned, independent bookstore.
Read the Waves is coming later this year to 425 Corey Avenue, a space that was formerly home to Curvy Mermaid, which moved a few doors down, and As Above So Below Metaphysical Shop, which relocated to the Dolphin Village shopping mall.
The new bookstore was founded by April Elliott, a native of Dallas, Texas, who was a journalist before going to law school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and then working as a criminal defense attorney in Colorado.
Elliott and her husband, David Rybarczyk, have been regular visitors to St. Pete Beach over the past few years, and they noticed that the community lacked a bookstore. They began to get serious about relocating to the area in late spring last year when they got in touch with a commercial real estate agent, Judy Brett, who told them St. Pete Beach had never had a bookstore.
Within weeks, they were under contract to buy a two-story building on Corey Avenue that will eventually become Read the Waves. They sold their house in Denver and less than a week later arrived in St. Pete Beach to start their new life in Florida.
The building’s lower level currently consists of three commercial spaces, but Elliott and Rybarczyk plan to remove the interior walls and convert it into one open 2,000-square-foot space for Read the Waves. The property’s second story is a two-bedroom apartment, which they’ll rent out.
April Elliott, owner of Read the Waves
“I plan to sell a wide variety of new books,” Elliott says. “I won’t be selling any used books. We have a beautiful community library one block away, so there’s already an outlet for that [nearby]. I think mixing the two muddies the waters a lot, so I’m going to focus on new books.”
Read the Waves aims to stock around 10,000 volumes across all genres, Elliott says, but certain categories, such as fiction and nonfiction, will be larger than, say, self-help.
“I know that I want a really strong children’s section,” she says. “That is so important. I want to have at least one person on staff who is dedicated entirely to children’s books.”
Because of St. Pete Beach’s popularity with retirees and snowbirds, Elliott and Rybarczyk would like to implement some innovative programs, such as an annual subscription service for grandparents that would automatically send their grandchildren a new book, once a month, on a topic the child is into at the time.
“The books would come from our store,” Elliott says, “but it’s a way for [grandparents] to stay involved with their grandchildren, even if they’re not physically present.”
The opening of Read the Waves comes at a time when bookstores, particularly in the St. Pete area, are dwindling. Tyrone still has a Barnes & Noble and Tombolo Books and Book & Bottle serve downtown shoppers, but the loss of Haslam’s Book Store, which shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened, was a big loss for the Sunshine City.
In addition to books, Read the Waves will sell “unique greeting cards and stationery, not the usual things you find at the grocery store, but meaningful, thoughtful gifts,” Elliott says, citing games and puzzles as other items that the store will carry.
Down the road, Read the Waves will utilize its beautiful, lush courtyard behind the building to host events, such as book clubs, story time for kids, author visits, and more.
“I want this to be a place where the community comes together,” said Elliott.
Elliott believes her bookstore has arrived at a rather fortuitous time in Florida and plans to do her part to counteract Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s interference in public school teachers’ and librarians’ selection of books.
“I’m not going to not carry something because it’s controversial,” she says. “If our government is going to censor everything so much, let us be the safe place where you can come and get what you want. If you want to read a certain book, we will be here to support you.”
Read the Waves hopes to open in the second half of the year at 425 Corey Avenue on St. Pete Beach. In the meantime, follow them on Instagram at @readthewavesbookstore to stay up-to-date on grand opening plans.
