New Fruita bookstore and lounge TBR Book Bar sells books and serves wine, beer and coffee

Tim Harty, The Business Times

Most people try to talk themselves into opening a business. They find reasons it will work.

Not Brandy Remy. She did her darnedest to talk herself out of opening a business. Looked for every reason to not do it.

But there was one really big problem with that approach. It actually convinced her that she needed to do it. Open a bookstore that also is a lounge and serves wine, beer and coffee drinks.

So, on Sept. 23, Day 3 of the soft opening of TBR Book Bar, 242 S. Mulberry St. in Fruita, Remy explained how an idea she had in March made her the owner and operator of a new business that will host its grand opening Oct. 3, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

It started with her husband, Matthew Remy, taking over the family fire-sprinkler-installation business, Affordable Fire Protection, which Brandy said she and Matthew worked for “pretty much the entire time we’ve been married.” Matthew’s move into ownership made it so Brandy no longer needed to work there.

“It kind of like hit this point where it’s like, ‘Well, now it’s my turn to do something cool,’” she said. “And I was chatting with my friend about it. She said, ‘Well, if you could do anything, what would it be?’ I’m just joking; I said, ‘Oh, open, you know, a bookstore with wine in it.’”

However, when she thought more about it, it was no joke.

“Weirdly, it just stuck with me,” Brandy said. “I started losing sleep over it, because it was all I could think about. So, I started trying to prove to myself all the reasons I couldn’t do it, and showed myself how I could.

“So, here we are.”

Amazed that her business idea stood up to the scrutiny intended to foil it, Brandy found what happened next to be equally amazing: The process of starting the business went smoothly.

“It happened incredibly fast,” she said. “The idea kind of came about around end of March-ish, maybe mid-March, and I really stumbled into this, because I was trying to show myself that it was too expensive or too much. There was no way I could do it.

“And I found this location, and it truly just came together so easily.”

She said the building’s owner, Ed Cherry, “was wonderful and worked with me on getting a lease worked out and terms that I could do until we were open.”

There was renovation that needed to be done, but it helped that the space was large and open, and it remains that way with the open concept for the lounge area.

“We got rid of a garage door, added a bar for the coffee and everything, and so it probably wasn’t the most construction, but for me, it felt like a lot,” Brandy said.

Because the business works foremost off the bookstore concept, it has an entire wall with shelves filled with new books for sale. Then, because it’s a lounge, it has tables and chairs, couches and love seats to accommodate groups or solo patrons.

There’s a coffee-bar area and counter where people can order drinks and a small selection of food items, and before customers get there, they’ll walk past a station for self-serve wine.

“In terms of furniture, I didn’t want it to be like every other coffee shop where you’re sitting on those metal chairs that we all kind of hang over,” Brandy said. “I wanted it to feel comfortable, like you were sitting down with friends on your couch, but you didn’t have to clean up your house for it, right? I wanted it to be very cozy.

“Color wise, I wanted it to kind of feel like the Fruita desert, the greens, the oranges, browns. I wanted to pull from the desert themes in this area kind of in the design.”

Because the lounge area is large and can get loud, Brandy had a small, comfortable room designed in the rear, where it’s quieter and small groups can gather.

“Really the point of it was for book clubs to meet, people to have meetings, job interviews,” she said.

In general the room is available on a first-come, first-served basis, but Brandy said she is going to set up a calendar, and people can reserve the room at no cost.

The collection of books has the potential to grow, and Brandy said she reached out on Facebook in the Fruita message board to find out what people enjoyed reading. That led to “a little bit of everything.”

Specifically, Brandy said, “We have fantasy, thrillers. There’s a pretty heavy religious section. Lots of kids books, fiction, nonfiction. I feel like we touched on a bit of everything.”

She also picked a selection of books that she felt represented Colorado and specifically Fruita.

Brandy said the initial turnout by the community has been amazing, especially considering, “I kind of sprung the soft open … I never announced it. I was like, ‘Well, we’ll just open and see what happens.’”

“I’ve been floored,” she added. “I had kind of in my mind my minimum sales goal to keep the doors open, and we’ve doubled or tripled that every day. So, I’m absolutely blown away by the community and how they’ve shown up for us already. And that was before it went out on the news or anything, so it’s been great.”

TBR Book Bar hopes to stay busy by including everyone. Even though alcohol is served on the premises, there’s no age requirement to get in the doors.

“Everyone is welcome all times of day. … It’s part of why we added some of the other drinks,” Brandy said, adding TBR Book Bar serves coffee all day. “We also have non-alcoholic wine and champagne for those who want to partake, but are not wanting to do alcohol.

“Kids are welcome all times of the day. We’ve noticed kids coming in after school, hanging out doing their homework. So, we’re definitely not turning anyone away for that.”

The inclusiveness goes to one of the most important reasons for operating TBR Book Bar in the first place.

“I think the biggest thing is that I just want TBR to be a place for community to gather, whatever that looks like,” Brandy said. “If that’s drinks with friends, if that’s study groups with kids, mom groups, whatever, I just really want TBR to be community.”

What is the TBR for?

TBR Book Bar owner Brandy Remy said the TBR in the name is a TikTok term that means To Be Read, and “it signifies the stack of books that you’re about to read.”

She added, “My husband jokes that it stands for Totally Brandy Remy.”

Making it grand

The Oct. 3 grand opening will run from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and feature a lot of reasons to stop at TBR Book Bar in addition to the books and beverages.

Remy said a local tattoo artist will do tiny tattoos for people; a baker will offer some book-themed cookies; someone will do permanent jewelry; there will be a place for people to build their own bouquets; and there will be a bar to build your own t-shirts.

Glad to have her on staff

Remy said TBR Book Bar has 12 employees, including three full-time.

One of the full-timers is coffee manager Jen Snyder, whom Remy called a good friend.

“Jen has been a huge help to me,” Remy said. “She always had a dream of opening a coffee truck. And so as I was starting this, I just wanted wine and books, and everybody’s like, ‘You have to do coffee, you have to do coffee.’ And so I reached out to her and said, ‘Do you still want to?’ And she said, ‘Absolutely.’

“So, she’s come on board. The coffee is really her baby that she’s put together with her recipes.”

What do you have to drink?

When Remy got the idea for TBR Book Bar, it was about a bookstore with wine in it. Then, other beverages got added to the drinks menu, such as coffee and beer and alcohol-free wine.

For wines, TBR Book Bar keeps it local with varieties from: Colterris Winery; Carboy Winery; Mafia Princess Wines; Peachfork Orchards and Vineyard; The Ordinary Fellow; and Vines79 Wine Barn. 

“People can come in and kind of taste around Palisade without going out to Palisade,” Remy said. “Our goal is to keep it entirely wines that are made in the Grand Valley.”

For beer, it carries offerings in cans from Grand Valley microbreweries Base Camp Beer Works and Ramblebine Brewing Company. 

The coffee bar will do a regular cup of Joe or lattes and cold brews, with everything coming from Novo Coffee, a roaster out of Denver. And for those who prefer teas, such as chai, those will be available, too.

For more non-alcohol options, Remy said TBR Book Bar eventually will add to the menu some lemonades, matcha, Italian cream sodas and energy drinks.

Got anything to eat? 

Yes. TBR Book Bar carries baked goods from Baker’s Boutique in Grand Junction.

“Also we’re making charcuterie boxes, chips and dip, naan and dip, just little snack things to have,” Remy said.

Who doesn’t need a bike-repair kit?

TBR Book Bar bookshelves will include some gifts, and among them is a bike-repair kit.

“I actually have a kit up there, a bicycle repair kit, like a Swiss Army-knife thing,” Remy said. “And my daughter’s like, ‘Why did you buy this?’ I said, ‘How long have you lived in Fruita? Of course, we need this up here.’”

Then, guess who was the first person to need one.

“We actually took one off the shelf,” Remy said, “because there’s little parts on our (espresso) machine that needed the tiniest screwdriver, and so we grabbed one, and that’s how we fixed our espresso machine Night 1.”