Leslie Schicht came across a map of romance book stores around the country and noticed that the closest one to Northern Kentucky was in Louisville.
“And I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s all I want to do today is walk into a store and talk to someone who can point me to 10 books that I’m gonna love,” said Schicht. “And I realized that there was nothing anywhere close to where we are.”
Schicht said that she considered it for a second and realized she could open one of her own.
“I just kind of like ‘wait, I could do that, I’ve read enough of these. I know this genre.’ So it just kind of stuck in my mind. And I just started pursuing it.”
Now, Schicht’s romance-focused bookshop, Poor Charlotte’s Books, is opening on Pike Street in Covington this Saturday.
One of her first thoughts when opening the store, she said, was “okay, how do you start a small business?”
This led her to Aviatra Accelerators, a Covington-based entrepreneurial nonprofit that supports women-owned startups and small businesses. Schicht said that she worked with Aviatra on starting the shop, “they’ve been wonderful in helping me learn how to run a small business, because that’s not my background at all.”
Poor Charlotte’s is opening in Aviatra’s retail pop-up space, but Schicht said she doesn’t want to call her shop a pop-up because they plan on being in the space for at least a few months, “we might stay for a little longer. We might find a different space. I’m not sure what the future holds.”
Also helping out Schicht is friend Christine Carnessali. Carnessali said that a mutual friend who knew her love for romance books connected to two, “and it just made sense.”
When LINK spoke with Carnessali, she was in the midst of getting ready for Saturday’s opening date, and she said she couldn’t wait to show people the space.
“I’m really excited to just be a part of it, and to add to my ever-growing TBR [to be read] list,” said Carnessali.
Carnessali said she has always been an avid reader, but she fell off a little in early adulthood. Then someone recommended “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas to her, “and I was back into it.”
“Reading is a hobby, and something that brings me joy and helps me escape from everyday life, and I like romance novels because they can be crazy, but everything turns out okay in the end, and everyone gets their happily ever after,” said Carnessali.
Schicht said she has always been a lover of romance; although she reads other genres, her favorites always have some kind of romance.
“The majority of what I read is romance, I just love the genre, and it’s changed so much in the past 10 years, and it’s really exploding right now, which is exciting,” said Schicht.
The name, Poor Charlotte’s Books, comes from E. M. Forster’s novel “A Room with a View,” which Schicht said is “in essence, a romance novel, but it was just written in 1908.”
Charlotte is not the heroine in the novel; she is the spinster cousin of the main character. Schicht said she is written as “awkward and weird” and “concerned about society rules and doing the right thing.”
Throughout the novel, she is referred to several times as “poor Charlotte,” a poor, unfortunate soul who “just can’t quite get it together.”
“In my imagination, it’s [Poor Charlotte’s] a store that centers people like Charlotte,” said Schicht. “And I think we all have a bit of that in us, where you kind of want to feel like you’re in a space where you can make friends and be connected to other people, without that worry of being judged.”
So, what is the space going to look like?
Schicht said her shop is going to differ slightly from the traditional romance space by not being pink, bright, and girly because “that’s not a calming vibe to me.”
“There’s a little romanticism to it, things that are really nice, things that are really tactile,” said Schicht.
While the space in Pike Street is being used temporarily, Schicht said, if they were to open somewhere permanent, “it would have to be in Covington.”
“I’m from here,” said Schicht. “I moved away for 20 years, and then I moved back, and I think Covington is the right fit for this type of store.”
While she is very excited for this venture, Schicht said that she is a little worried about balancing her life as a wife and mother with another full-time job.
“I’m nervous about being able to do all the things to make Poor Charlotte’s successful and make it come to life the way I have it in my head,” said Schicht.
But she’s overall very excited and ready to introduce people to what she’s been working on.
“I can’t wait to meet all these people who love what I love,” said Schicht. “It’s going to be so much fun. And it’s so cool when you can walk into a space and start talking about something you know and you’re excited about, that’s joyful, and there’s so much stress in our world right now. To be in a space where you can focus on things that are happy and fun and be with other people, I think, is really exciting.”
Carnessali said that after their opening date announcement, they have gotten great responses, and she’s very ready for Saturday.
“People seem to be really excited about it,” said Carnessali. “I’ve seen lots of people tag their friends and say like, ‘Hey, are we going to this? Let’s go.’ And I think it seems that it’s being pretty well received right now.”
Poor Charlotte’s Books features all genres of romance – contemporary, fantasy, historical, paranormal, dark and vintage titles and features LGBTQ+ titles in all genres. They also carry general fiction and nonfiction that have themes of love, community, friends and family.
The shop is located at 112 West Pike St, Covington. Find more information at poorcharlottes.com.The store will be open Thursdays 4 p.m. – 7 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sundays noon – 4 p.m.