Run for Cover Bookstore and Café hosted its grand opening Friday, at 4912 Voltaire Street in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, Calif. Owner Marianne Reiner, who told Shelf Awareness in August that she "had this idea of one day, I'm going to do this as a store," realized her dream with the weekend celebration.
In a Sunday Facebook post, she wrote: "Humbled is how I feel tonight after our first full week-end in business at Run for Cover Bookstore and Café. What an incredible feeling to see my dream come true and to have an entire community of book lovers and coffee drinkers behind me and our little store. Words fail me to tell you how grateful I am for each and every one of your smiles, hugs, kind words, enthusiasm and your promise to come back again and again because you all feel that Ocean Beach was due for an Indie bookstore and café. And many of you came from well beyond OB which is such a sweet gift.
"My head is overflowing with ideas and projects for our store. My heart is bouncing from all the love and support I am getting and my smile cannot be wiped off. The current political climate emphasizes why I think this community bookstore is more important than ever. I did not want to head to bed (for a much needed rest!) without telling all of you. Thank You for making this new bookseller so happy."
Before the grand opening, Reiner had told the Union-Tribune: "People have shown that they want a community space where they can find books, and also other readers. They want to be able to meet authors, have story time for their children, hold book club meetings.... Probably a dozen times a day, people poke their heads into the store while we're remodeling and ask, 'When are you going to open?' It's been very heartening."