A conversation with Alsace Walentine, co-owner of Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg, Fla., was featured in the Tampa Bay Times, which noted: "At a time when so many businesses have failed, Tombolo has done surprisingly well, hosting authors and legions of avid readers." Among the highlights of the q&a:
How did you come up with the name?
We were literally going through the dictionary looking at words for something meaningful. Tombolo is a geographic term for a type of sandbar that connects an island to the mainland A tombolo connects a lone island, and I thought that's what a really good independent bookstore does, it creates connections to this whole world of ideas and stories, a whole world of authors and other readers.
Have customers been drawn to certain types of books during the pandemic?
We sold more of the plague that (first) year. I think it's really interesting how many authors had books coming out at the very beginning of the pandemic. It had been about 100 years since the Spanish flu so I think a lot of authors were just looking at history. Certainly a lot of people want to escape the pandemic so a lot of shoppers are buying things that have nothing to do with it. We always intended to have a strong Florida nonfiction section because there are so many tourists, but it's also important to understand your history.
How about all the political books that came out about the Trump presidency?
Typically we lose money if we try to bring in books that people are enthusiastic about for 24 hours and that's it. We're looking for books with a nice long tail so they can pay the rent on the bookshelf.
Tampa's Inkwood Books has closed and Haslam's in St. Petersburg hasn't reopened since the pandemic. Are you worried about the future of independents like Tombolo?
I'm a 100% optimist about the future. I have unwavering faith in people's desire to read physical books and have a place to go and browse a curated selection of physical books.