Zeppelin Books, a bookstore offering a "carefully curated" selection of about 100 titles, has opened in downtown Orlando, Fla., the Bungalower reported. Located inside the Downtown Credo coffee shop in the North Quarter Market, the bookstore has a focus on local authors and independent publishers.
Store owners and husband-and-wife Alex Gurtis and Andrea Penuela hosted a grand opening celebration for the bookstore on Saturday. Festivities included a celebration of Erin Slaughter's new book, The Sorrow Festival, and readings by Tyler Gillespie and Laurie Uttich.
Penuela and Gurtis have been together since 2014. They met in college and quickly found that they shared a love of both books and coffee. Whenever they traveled, they liked to visit new bookstores and coffee shops, and eventually they decided "it was time to bring their favorite pastime to downtown Orlando."
Gurtis is a poet, book critic and barista at Downtown Credo, while Penuela is a landscape architect.