a bookstore, Pages & Perks,<\/a> this June in the Roser Park neighborhood, where they also live.<\/p>\nNo exact date has been set as contractors wrap up work in their retail space at 914 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South, they told Patch. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a huge pivot for the couple, who spent much of their careers either working directly for HSN or in roles adjacent to the company. Ben worked in production for HSN, while Kate worked with businesses trying to sell their products to the network. <\/p>\n
When HSN moved to the Philadelphia area last year, they found themself at a crossroads, as they had the option of heading north with the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was the opportunity for us to move there and be a part of it, or we could dig into St. Pete and plant our roots,\u201d Kate said. \u201cWe stayed. We love the community. We love this town. We\u2019re huge St. Pete fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only that, but Ben is a third-generation resident – making their son, Cooper, a fourth-generation St. Petian – and his family has called the city home since 1901. <\/p>\n
While the change has been daunting, HSN\u2019s move out of state allowed them to pursue this new dream, Pages & Perks. <\/p>\n
Initially, they planned to start with a coffee shop, a coffee cart, to start, and slowly expand into a bookstore. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat way we\u2019d learn the bookstore business,\u201d Kate said. <\/p>\n
Instead, they found themselves launching the business the other way around. <\/p>\n
In recent months, the couple has been popping up as Pages & Perks at community markets and events – their first was at their son\u2019s preschool at First United Methodist Church – as they planned their brick-and-mortar space. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still learning our Square system, things like inventory, you know, little things,\u201d Kate said. \u201cWe have no idea what we\u2019re doing, right? We\u2019re just learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bookstore is the first tenant in the Looking Glass Initiative, which is bringing a 1925 building back to life, as well as much-needed shops and services to the growing neighborhood, the couple said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like every 20 years or so you have neighborhoods that go through, like, a generational change, and now that\u2019s the time for Roser Park. You have a whole bunch of families in the neighborhood with kids just running around and you didn\u2019t have that 10 years ago,\u201d Ben said, adding, \u201cWe made a conscious decision to find a location in this area to give back to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
His wife added, \u201cWe love that there\u2019s families that haven\u2019t been there. We love that there\u2019s more families, more younger kids. I feel like there\u2019s more 4- and 5-year-olds there than there were when we first moved there [a decade ago.] And they\u2019re all looking for something to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple said that the goal is for Pages & Perks to be more than a bookstore. <\/p>\n
The shop will include areas where visitors can hang out or work, a children\u2019s area, and a bar focused on mocktails that also will serve beer and wine. <\/p>\n
The space will also host community events, including Dungeons & Dragons, game nights, yoga events, author readings and more. <\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people are really excited to have a hub that they can go to,\u201d Ben said.<\/p>\n
Until the shop opens, the business plans to continue appearing at pop-up events around Tampa Bay. Upcoming events include the May 17 Vinoy Market, Books, Booty & Bubbles at Impulse Studios Pole Dance on May 23, and The Underground Book Fair at the Jack Kerouac House on May 30.<\/p>\n
Are you a local business owner? Post a business listing on Patch! It\u2019s an easy way to reach a local audience and connect with customers close to home. Go here<\/a> to get started today.<\/p>\nSee Also: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, FL \u2014 A St. Petersburg couple with ties to the Home Shopping Network are trying their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-259609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}