BOOKS, COZY LINENS, COFFEE ROUND OUT STORE UPDATES
The Book Catapult, Brooklinen holding holiday events; Achilles Coffee Roasters plans expansion in new year
An essay in The New York Times last winter explained why books are the quintessential holiday gift.
“Books offer infinite variety, are easily wrapped, can be personalized for the recipient and displayed as a signifier of one’s own identity,” the author wrote.
The Book Catapult, an independent bookstore in South Park, has put together a dreamy event for anyone who loves reading or gifting books. Plus coffee.
From 11 a.m. to approximately noon on Dec. 17, the shop’s staff and its co-owner, Seth Marko, will talk about their favorite books and what is buzzy in the book world. All of the featured books are discounted 20 percent. Visitors will be treated to free coffee from Dark Horse Coffee Roasters (which has a cafe on the same block).
Marko said they do this book chat every third Sunday of the month. The December event is the most popular.
“It’s the best books that I’ve read all year. It’s the books that I like talking about the most. And for some reason, people like to hear me talk about them,” he said with a laugh.
New store celebrates with holiday open house
Today at Westfield UTC, newcomer Brooklinen is hosting a holiday event that aims to make holiday shopping cozy and fun.
The store, which sells high-end bedding, towels, candles, accessories and loungewear, opened at UTC last month.
“After the Brooklyn-based company’s West Coast expansion into San Francisco and Santa Monica in 2022, the brand will set up shop south of LA to serve even more of its California customer base,” it said in a statement.
At today’s event, customers can “enjoy live music, holiday treats and complementary embroidery on select holiday giftables,” a company spokesperson wrote.
The event runs from 1 to 5 p.m. Brooklinen is also running a sale all weekend, discounting certain sheet sets and bundles by 25 percent.
The brand’s prices range widely. The Luxe Sateen Hardcore Sheet Bundle is currently discounted from $363 to $272.25. On the somewhat more affordable end are mulberry silk eye masks for $29 and a set of four votive candles for $59.
Artisan roaster expanding to Carmel Valley Achilles Coffee Roasters
got its start as a coffee cart in 2015. Eight years later, it has several cafes in
downtown San Diego, one in Solana Beach, and is working on a new location in North County.
“We just started construction this week on the new Carmel Valley location,” the founder and coowner, Chad Bell, wrote in an email. “It is our goal to be open in May.”
The cafe will be in a strip mall at 12730 Carmel Country Road in what used to be The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
On the bean front, Achilles sells a range of roasts by the pound. Currently on the menu: single origins from Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Mexico, Colombia and several other sources, for around $21 to $24 a pound, and two blends.
The cafe also prepares and serves breakfast and lunch at attainable prices.
“What differentiates Achilles Coffee from other specialty coffee companies in San Diego is our kitchen,” Bell wrote. “We offer made-to-order breakfast and lunch items such as breakfast burritos, scrambles, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches and much more.”
In case you were wondering, here’s the story behind the name: “I started Achilles Coffee, named after my son, in 2015. The business started with a modest outdoor coffee cart located in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego. There were days where I was literally serving customers with Achilles, my son, in my arms,” Bell wrote on the website.
Do you know any stores or eateries that are opening or closing? Do you have a tip about San Diego shopping deals or news? Send me the scoop: roxana.popescu@ sduniontribune.com.