ST. PETERSBURG — In a world saturated with screens, Natalya Calleja and her daughter Pamela are betting on the appeal of physical books.

For the mother-daughter team, reading fiction is about stepping into another world, and they’ve built a business around that experience.

“I think we all crave this old habit of touching and smelling a book,” said Natalya Calleja, owner of The Book Lounge. “Even if you’re listening to it on your phone, it still is such a delightful experience. When you do it with a group, it makes it so much more special.”

That cherished hobby has been part of their family traditions since childhood, including gathering around the table to play board games as a way to bond and create memories.

Those pastimes influenced the Callejas’ vision to create The Book Lounge, where they encourage visitors to unplug from devices, read a book, sip wine and play board games with friends.

“Part of the mission is to disconnect, reboot, have a conversation with a stranger based on a board game or a book you read,” Natalya said. The shop’s rule: no laptops after 5 p.m. “I want everybody to feel comfortable here and to relax.”

Dark academia meets Alice in Wonderland on Central Avenue

Located in the Central Arts District at 631 Central Ave., The Book Lounge is a fiction-only bookstore combined with a small café that serves wine, coffee, tea, desserts and charcuterie snacks.

The shelves are filled with romance, fantasy, mystery/thriller and LGBTQ+ stories, plus works by indie authors. More than 100 board games are available for guests to play, and the space offers comfy sofas, chairs and coffee tables to feel like an eclectic living room.

“I wanted it to feel like an old world you’re stepping into,” Natalya said. “Somewhere in Europe, or New York … like you’re transporting yourself somewhere else because books allow you to.”

Inspired by bookstores the family visited throughout the years, Pamela took inspiration from a place in Chicago she described as having a “dark academia vibe.” For The Book Lounge, they added whimsical elements from Alice in Wonderland, with bold hues, checkered floors and mismatched art.

One of the store’s most eye-catching features is the wall covered in pages from old, slightly damaged banned and classic books like To Kill a Mockingbird.

It all started with Pages and Roses: “A Blind Date with a Book”

When Pamela was a senior in high school in 2024 — now a freshman global business major at the University of South Florida St. Pete — she launched her first business, Pages and Roses, where she sold “a blind date with a book” bundles at local markets.

Each bundle included a wrapped mystery book from a genre or spice level a customer chose, paired with small, curated gifts like face masks, bookmarks, pens, stickers, lollipops and candy.

“Self-love is really a big part of the concept,” Pamela Calleja said. “You don’t need somebody else to go on a date with you. You can go on a date with yourself. It’s like a touch, smell and taste experience, and it just came together really naturally.”

Her mother, whose background spans business marketing, supply chains and sustainability, had been looking for a way out of corporate work and imagined creating a bookstore built as an extension of the blind date business.

Within about four months, Pamela raised $25,000 selling out at every market and invested it into the family business.

While touring the USF St. Pete campus around March, they spotted a vacant unlisted space on Central Avenue, and Natalya immediately decided to lease it before resigning from her corporate job. The Book Lounge was born.

A story of success against the odds

Opening the shop came with hurdles and learning curves. Without prior experience starting a brick-and-mortar business, the Callejas learned as they went and designed the place themselves with friends and family.

Originally planning to open during the summer, they experienced delays with permit processes and other requirements.

“We thought we could just open really quickly,” Natalya said. “When we hired the crew to help us make it happen, it’s how we learned all the things we needed to do. With all the permits that are required, those are things that took so long.”

For their grand opening Nov. 8, they didn’t expect to see a line form down the block and wrap around the corner.

“When we saw it growing, we were not expecting that to happen,” Natalya said. “You dream that you have your little line and have people supporting you, but you never think you’re going to be over capacity. Throughout the day, we were emotional because we worked on this project for seven months before opening, and I still feel so happy and appreciate that support.”

By the end of the day, about 1,500 people had come through the store, with about 800 transactions made, Natalya said.

Natalya leads overall business operations and manages the store while Pamela helps where needed. She manages the website and continues to create the blind date book bundles in the shop. Working as a mother-daughter duo, they keep their working relationship professional.

“We’re both really creative souls,” Pamela said. “It’s a really good blend.”

If The Book Lounge were a novel, it would be a story of success against the odds, Pamela said.

“It’s a story of hard work and resilience, and if there’s a will, there’s a way,” she said.

Starting in January, they plan to host monthly book clubs and author readings and signing events. Upcoming workshops include book-bedazzling, bookbinding, journaling and creating personalized book notes.

The store also plans to feature a dedicated banned-books section centered on fiction and children’s books for visiting families.

For more information, visit thebooklounge.com.