The stories behind some of our favorite store details
One thing we love to hear from our customers (because we secretly hoped you’d notice) is that there are lots of great details around the store. The Romeo and Juliet quote on the wall, for example. The bookish wallpaper. The Maisy bookmarks.
Some of our decorative touches were well thought out in advance by Marcie, who has a knack for such things. Others just fell into place. So to stay true to our bookish vibe, we thought we’d share some of the behind-the-scenes stories of how those details came about:
The grandfather clock
If you’ve been upstairs to The Little Loft, you’ve not only seen the incredible artwork by muralist Rachel Castaneda, you’ve also seen (or maybe heard?) our grandfather clock. Yes, it still works. But how did it end up at Juliet?
Marcie sourced quite a bit of the store’s furniture from places like Facebook Marketplace, including the blue settee and red chair you’ll notice downstairs. A Raleigh man and his wife were moving to Colorado, and those pieces had been in his wife’s family for over 75 years. He was kind enough to deliver the items to the shop, and he came with one extra item: a large, old grandfather clock that had its own story. The year was 1897, and his wife’s grandfather was Salesman of the Year up in Leesburg, Virginia. His prize? You guessed it, the clock. At first Marcie said no, not interested, because where will we put it? Then, after hearing its story, up to the Little Loft it went, where it now gives off some classic Hickory Dickory Dock vibes.
The notes to Juliet
Near the back of the store, beyond the fiction shelves, you’ll see a wall with heart-shaped notes tacked on it. The idea is that our wall would be reminiscent of the actual “letters to Juliet” tradition that takes place in Verona, Italy. For several decades people have written notes about their heartbreak and love and then tacked these notes to a famous wall (where they’re actually responded to by a team of volunteers – there’s even a movie about it!). We weren’t entirely sure what types of notes would appear on our own wall, but were delighted when well-wishes for the store started covering the surface. Feel free to write your own note – about anything you’d like – the next time you visit.
The flickering lantern
This is my favorite detail, so I couldn’t resist including it here. If you look up toward the loft, you’ll see a mural of Juliet’s balcony with a flickering lantern mounted beside it, straight out of Shakespearean days. Except ye olde English it is not. Instead, it’s ye olde Habitat for Humanity ReStore – a find Marcie stumbled across and couldn’t resist. The trickiest part, of course, was not only hanging it but finding the perfect flickering lightbulb for it – both tasks accomplished valiantly by Marcie’s husband Craig. Legend has it that the search for the perfect bulb was a royal pain, and once Craig found one he bought a lot of them. We think it adds the perfect romantic touch to Juliet Books; it was a random find that now we couldn’t imagine living without.
