The Story Garden children's bookstore will open this fall at 832 14th St. N., St. Petersburg, Fla., in a quaint, 800-square-foot building that served as a neighborhood grocery store in the 1920s. I Love the Burg reported that co-owners Megan and Jason Kotsko "would often look at the abandoned grocery store across from their home and imagine what it could become--perhaps a little café, a cozy book nook, or maybe even another grocery store to revitalize the area. But no one came, and nothing changed."
A former kindergarten and first-grade teacher who had been a stay-at-home mom for the past five years, Megan Kotsko said she wondered: "Should I go back to teaching? What should I do next?" Then she realized a dedicated children's bookstore might be the answer, and the old grocery store across the street remained empty.
When the Story Garden officially opens around Halloween, the front of the store will feature a full retail section, offering puppets, stuffed animals, how-to-draw activity books, and more. The back of the store, which takes up about one-third of the total space, will be dedicated to children's events and include a child-sized stage. The store will stock books for children ages 0-13, organized by age.
"I want children to have ownership over the books they select," Megan said.