POULSBO, Wash. — The pandemic may be a nightmare for many but Jenna DeTrapani says it's the perfect time to make a dream come true. She just opened her own bookstore in Poulsbo.
“We actually decided to do this because of COVID,” she says.
Built on the site of an old barbeque restaurant, Bookit Nook may have replaced dining tables with bookshelves, but they kept something else.
The drive-thru window.
“Believe it or not a lot of readers love social distancing,” Detrapani says. “Many of us are introverts at heart, myself included, so I understand that some readers don't want somebody coming up to them every step asking if they need assistance. The drive-thru window gives the readers some comfort level”.
Of course, DeTrapani wants readers to come inside, browse and get recommendations, but the window appeals to readers for all sorts of reasons.
“This is like heaven for a bookaphile and I am addicted to books," admits Pink Wasous, who likes to walk up to the drive-thru window.
“I'm 73 and I have asthma,” she says, “And especially lately I try not to go anywhere that requires me to be inside.”
Some customers are in a hurry. Others don't want to deal with the weather. And there may be one more reason some readers don't want to come inside. Her name is Papaya.
“Instead of a bookstore cat we have a bookstore snake,” says DeTrapani. “So if you don’t want to interact or even see a snake you can come through a drive-thru.”
On Wednesdays, Bookit Nook offers a meet and greet with the five-foot-long ball python.
“She's a really sweet snake,” says DeTrapani. “She is very sociable and she is beautiful.”
For a novel way to shop for books, check out the old Poulsbo barbecue stand that now goes by the name Bookit Nook.
“It wasn't a very good barbecue but it's a great bookstore,” laughs Wasous.
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