Word on the Street: Tower District’s Mia Cuppa Caffe added a bookstore Monday

Mia Cuppa Caffe stocked four of its five 7-foot-tall bookshelves Monday with both classic and modern works, as part of the store’s home-away-from-home design.

“I love the coffeehouse experience, where you have a book, you read, you think, you drink coffee, you hang out,” said co-owner Mark DeRaud.

He added the shop’s tagline is even “Eat, drink and be mindful.”

DeRaud owns the coffee shop with his wife Wendy, decorating it with some of their original artwork. As of September they will have owned it two years, he said.

When DeRaud first came to the Tower District in 1983, he said there were about seven bookstores and he would spend Saturdays visiting them. Now only the local used bookstore Hart’s Haven remains, which supplied Mia Cuppa Caffe with its book selection.

The shop sees an eclectic mix of customers, from “college students, professors, businessmen, council people, artists, musicians, singers, writers,” he said.

The bookstore’s collection is just as eclectic, as DeRaud’s only requirement is that he carry “solid authors.” Result: A Nora Robert romance sits next to Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time high fantasy series.

DeRaud is still determining prices with a consultant, but will keep them inexpensive for customers, he said. He’s looking to stock shelves in the future with donations from estates, as those books show more signs of being loved than the average thrift store book would.

“The idea to come here, to be able to purchase a book, sit down, have a great cup of coffee, a great drink, a pastry or a sandwich, is very appealing,” he said.

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Word on the Street: Tower District’s Mia Cuppa Caffe added a bookstore Monday."