FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #95 Books, Dogs, and Coffee Unite
A dog-themed bookstore that brews great coffee and even better community? That’s Tales and Tails, and Christine Bowman joins us to share how a playful idea became a Fredericksburg staple where readers, neighbors, and pups all feel at home.
We dig into the origin story: a lifelong reader partnered with a former teacher and coffee enthusiast, the hunt for the right downtown space, and the decision to move forward before conditions were “perfect.” Christine opens up about what makes the shop tick—new books across genres, Blanchard’s coffee from Richmond, a dog-friendly patio with pup cups—and why thoughtful design matters when you’re building a true third space. From weekly book clubs drawing 20 to 30 people to adoption events with Old Dominion Humane Society, trivia, craft nights, and themed parties, the store runs on connection and a calendar that gets people out of the house and into real conversations.
We also explore a surprising trend: the return of reading, especially among younger fantasy fans. Christine explains how personal recommendations, staff picks, and a welcoming layout help rekindle the reading habit. Upstairs, three free meeting rooms create frictionless community: book clubs, Dungeons and Dragons, birthdays, and more. Along the way, she shares candid advice for aspiring small business owners—start before it’s perfect, lean on family and local resources like the Small Business Development Center, and build a team that makes the everyday work feel possible.
If you’re curious where to find this neighborhood living room, Christine gives the details: 1010 Charles Street with rare on-site parking and a website that lists events, book clubs, and adoptable pups. Love books, coffee, and spaces that bring people together? Hit play, then come by for a latte, a new read, and maybe a wagging tail. If the conversation resonates, subscribe, rate, and share with a friend who needs a new third place.
Christine Bowman
Tales and Tails
talesandtailsbookcafe@gmail.com
+1 540-870-7605
1010 Charles Street, Fredericksburg, VA, United States, Virginia
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I'm excited to introduce you to my guest today. We've got Christine Bowman joining us, and she's with Tales and Tails. Christine, welcome to the podcast. Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to dive in and learn all about you and your business. So let's start, let's start there. Share with us a little bit about Tales and Tails.
Speaker 2:So Tales and Tails is a dog-themed bookstore. We're right in the heart of downtown, just off of Charles Street. Um, we sell mostly new books in a wide variety of genres, um, and we have kind of a dog themed to the store. So you'll see dog things kind of sprinkled throughout the store. Um, and then we do have a dog-friendly patio outside where we do pup cups, we do adoption events. Um, so we try to kind of create a place where we can share love for books and dogs. Um, we also have coffee that we brew here. Um, we actually are using Blanchard's, which is out of Richmond. Um, so we have kind of a little bit of everything.
Speaker 1:I love this so much. It's like the best things in life, right? Yeah. Coffee, dogs, like what a happy business to be in. I love it. And I love the name. It's so cute. And your branding is so cute. I love your website with the dogs in the background and their names. It's adorable. I love it. So I want to learn about you. I want to learn your background and your journey. Tell me how did you come to start this business?
Speaker 2:So I've always been a reader my whole life. I've just loved books, loved stories. Um, and my husband is a teacher, and well, he was, I guess he was a teacher. He taught for 10 years, and uh he was kind of my job sort of stabilized, and and we sort of reached a place where it was a good time for us to do this. So he is more of like the coffee enthusiast. I'm more of the book enthusiast. So it kind of melts really well together. Um, and the timing worked out, and we found this great building. Um, and that's kind of how we ended up opening.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. So tell me a little bit more about the business model. So you've got coffee, you've got the outside um air patio area, um, you've got the bookstore. I also understand you um you host events as well. Tell me a little bit more about that. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So we host a wide variety of events. Um we do book clubs that are free to join. Um, so we have four book clubs that we're doing currently right now. It kind of we can alternate, add one or two um in there, but we do about one book club a week. Um, and we get probably like 20, maybe 30 people that come out, which is fantastic. It's like people actually, you know, talking to one another. What a foreign content. Um, so we do book clubs. Um, we do have hold adoption events. Um actually tomorrow, or no, I'm sorry, Saturday, we'll have some puppies out um from the Old Dominion Humane Society. Um, and then we do have crafting events that we host, and then some specialty stuff kind of thrown in there. Like we had a Taylor Swift night for the new album. Um, we've done trivia nights. So really we're just trying to create a space and and provide opportunities for people to get out and and to leave their house and kind of be with other people.
Speaker 1:I love that. You've created a community there. You're much more than a bookstore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's that was our goal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it so much. So let me ask you this Do you find that there are any myths or misconceptions about your business?
Speaker 2:I think when we when I tell when I told people, you know, we were opening, they were like, Do people even read anymore? And I think that's the big, I mean, that's the big question, right? And there is a there's a fall in in in literacy and in folks reading, but I do think since the pandemic, really, we've seen a resurgence in readers, especially in young people. Um, there's been a huge boom in like the fantasy book world, um, which has been really cool. We have a lot of fantasy readers, which is awesome. So I think there is this myth that like people aren't reading and people aren't buying books, because they are, and especially in Fredericksburg.
Speaker 1:Well, and clearly they are if you're drawing in 20 to 30 people for your book clubs. Yeah, it's it's been fantastic. Yeah, I love that. So if someone came to you and said, Hey, you have done a great job with this, I'm thinking about also opening my own company. What advice would you give them?
Speaker 2:Oh boy, it's a laundry list. I think first and foremost, it just like having a kid, it's almost like having a kid, honestly. Like there's never going to be a perfect time. So if you have the motivation and the will and the drive to do something, you just have to get kind of crafty and you can make it happen. Um, the other thing I would say is just make sure you have really good people around you because none of this happens in a vacuum. You know, we have had a fantastic team of people that have helped us, our families have pitched in a ton and helped us. Um, and we've found community resources too that actually, you know, don't cost anything. Like we uh went to the small business center at Mary Washington initially with our business plan. And Jared over there was like super helpful just to get us off the ground. So don't be afraid to use the resources that are out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really good advice. And it's so important. I'm glad you mentioned having a support system and having the right people around you. That's huge. I love that. So tell me, what is something that you wish the listeners knew about Tales and Tails?
Speaker 2:So I think we sort of saw this before, but like the big thing for us is just that we really are trying to create a community space. So um we have the book clubs, we have the events, we have all the things where we kind of bring people together, but we also tried to provide a space to do that as well. So upstairs, I'm actually in one of them right now in the Golden Retriever one, if you can't tell. Um, we have three meeting rooms upstairs that are actually free to book on our website and hour-long um segments. And we've had people, you know, do their own book club up here, do a craft night. We have Dungeons and Dragons, we have people had a birthday party here. So we really are proud to offer a third space, you know, in downtown Fredericksburg. Um not only the meeting rooms, but I mean, even downstairs, there's plentiful seating. We have a little chess set. People sit and play chess. I don't even know that many people knew how to play chess, but it's like almost every day we're seeing that. So um I think definitely one of our missions when we opened um that people may not necessarily know.
Speaker 1:I love that. That's nice. It's always uh hard to find uh meeting space like that. So that's wonderful, especially downtown.
Speaker 2:There's just you know there's just not room.
Speaker 1:So we're lucky. I love that. So clearly you are very busy in your business, and your husband is involved in the business as well. And so I imagine uh home life and business kind of meld together. So let me ask you this when you're not working on the business, what are you doing for fun?
Speaker 2:So um I have a I actually have a full-time job um that's outside of here. So goodness, you're busy. I am busy, I am busy, but you know what? Happily busy, happily busy. Um I'll be honest with you, this is gonna sound so cheesy because I own a bookstore, but like I my brain is just constantly on and going. And the one thing that quiets it all is reading. So like I I I just still have found the time to make sure I'm reading and it brings me a lot of joy and peace. And I I just love it.
Speaker 1:Well, it's it's amazing that or wonderful that you get to do what you love. And I imagine it helps too with you connecting with your customers and sharing that love of reading.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. It's it makes me so happy when either they ask me for a recommendation and they're they've like already read it and love it. Or they ask me for a record. We've had people come back and say, that was great. What else should I read? And that's like that's so awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're like, yes.
unknown:Exactly.
Speaker 1:I love that. And so have you lived in the Fredericksburg area long?
Speaker 2:So I'm originally from Warrington. Oh, grew up in Warrington. Um, and I relocated back here. Uh, my husband and I relocated back here about two years ago. Um, we're not we're not Fredericksburg natives per se, but I'm I'm I was originally from the area.
unknown:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you're probably having a lot of fun exploring downtown.
Speaker 2:I love it. I mean, there's there's so much going on. It's it's so vibrant. You know, I think there's this misconception that it's like dead, and it's just so not. I mean, there's so much stuff going on. We love, especially in the summer, you go up uh on the rooftop on the sky bar, there's music, there's people, it's just fantastic. So yeah, there's so many wonderful places here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree. It's such a great little town. And and then we're so close to you know, the mountains, and we're close to the beach, and we're close to culture in DC. I always say, Fredericksburg, we're like in such a great location.
Speaker 2:We are totally, and and the the people here are fantastic. I mean, honestly, we really found wonderful people here. And like, I mean, even you guys, exactly what you're doing. It's like people are looking for community and they want it, they seek it out, and it that's really cool and it's awesome to be part of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, if the listeners want to connect with you and they want some book recommendations and they want to stop by and see you, where can they find you?
Speaker 2:So, our location, physical location is at 1010 Charles Street. Um, if you know where the butcher is, it's just right down the road. Um, we do actually have parking, which is super rare in downtown Projectsburg. So if you come by, we have some parking, which is nice. Um and we do have a website, it's Tales and Tails, the Books Before the Dogs, Tales and Tails Bookcafe.com. We usually update that with our web, uh, with our events that are happening, book clubs, adoption events, and then there's some book recommendations on there as well, as well as some uh pups that are available for adoption that we're just highlighting because they need a little bit more attention. So yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh nice. Well, Christine, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Tales and Tails with us. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker:Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG Neighborspodcast.com.