Botanica Books has opened at 456 Broadway, Ste. 302., in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., "a couple flights of stairs removed from the shoppers, drinkers, and gallivanters," Saratoga Today reported, adding that the boutique-style store "looks more like a treehouse... a plant's tendrils fall between two bookshelves; a floral rug rests beneath two green cushioned armchairs; and a bird named Stevie Nicks is perched above the patrons."
"I wanted something that felt a little bit off the beaten path, something that people might be curious about," said owner and manager Carissa Mina. "The foot traffic has been great.... Booklovers will go as far as they need to see a bookshop."
A New York native, Mina moved back to the state after living in Colorado, where she owned and operated the Wandering Jellyfish children's bookshop. She is also a writer who was active in Colorado's writing scene and hopes "to recreate that community here in the Spa City. To that end, Botanica offers itself as a meeting place for writing workshops, book clubs, classes, and other small gatherings," Saratoga Today noted.
"Writers, we're a lonely bunch," she said. "I missed my community and [wanted] to give writers a reason to get together."
Regarding the store's book selections, she noted: "I think my distinct personality would be that I love to read and I love to learn, and I really wanted to have a bookshop [where] all the books in it are books that I'm really interested in reading or learning from. People can come in and find something that maybe they weren't looking for and that they might have an interest in reading or learning about."