New store in downtown Puyallup sells 850 books on first day of soft opening
Page & Pine, Puyallup’s newest bookstore, started out as an idea in 39-year-old Emily Foster’s head.
Now, almost a year later, its doors are finally open. The store — at 207 W. Stewart Ave. next to Firehouse Pet Shop in downtown Puyallup — launched its soft opening on June 27.
“Twenty seven is my son’s baseball number, and it’s been his number since he was 9, and he’s nearly 16 now,” Foster told The News Tribune. “We’ve had so many delays with the opening that, when that date was the date we decided on, (it was like): ‘Maybe this is when it was always supposed to be.’”
Foster has lived in Puyallup for 19 years. Page & Pine started with her desire to bring more business to downtown.
“I just love the downtown neighborhood so much,” Foster said. “But I knew that it was lacking more shopping opportunities for residents and customers in general.”
She then talked to the Puyallup Main Street Association, who told her residents have been craving a bookstore for years. During the store’s first day, books were flying off the shelves.
“We sold close to 850 books on the first day we opened — which far surpassed what we thought we would do the first couple of weeks,” Foster said. “There was a portion of time where our romance section was cleared out — there was less than 20 books on the shelf and there were a few hundred prior. That’s really exciting.”
Foster said the best part of opening has been support from the community and from other local businesses.
“The customers that have come into the shop, they have been so supportive and so thankful and have expressed their thanks in us opening — they tell us all the time how great it is that we are downtown and how excited they are for the shop,” Foster said. “(Other local businesses) have reached out and stopped by and dropped off flowers and gifts and treats, and just the amount of encouragement is incredible.”
The store has many genres, Foster told The News Tribune, including romance, fantasy, thriller, horror, young adult, nonfiction, cookbooks, lifestyle books, children’s books and a selection of new releases.
Page & Pine is still experiencing growing pains. Foster said it is not fully furnished yet, and staff are still learning how to work parts of its sale system, which is why the past week has been a soft opening. She said they aim to have a grand opening ceremony in August, but she does not have a hard date yet.
“(Customers) walk in and their faces light up. They compliment: ‘It’s so pretty, I’m so happy here,’” Foster said. “I feel like what I’ve created has really done something positive for the downtown Puyallup community and that is a huge, huge thing for me.”
Foster also said she is grateful for the lessons that she gets to pass onto her son.
“(I can show him) that you can have a crazy idea and, if you are determined and you have the grit and the want for something, you can go after it and get it,” Foster said.
Page & Pine is one of three bookstores planned for the Puyallup area. Bundok Books launched a soft opening in April at 3827 S. Meridian, where the Tux Shop used to be. A Barnes and Noble is also set to open at the South Hill Mall. The company’s website says it is scheduled to open in October.
Residents can visit Page & Pine from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday through Tuesday. The store will be closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Customers can reach the store at 253-268-0548 or hello@pageandpinebooks.com.
