Albuquerque’s newest romance bookstore and coffee shop, Vellum&Vine, opened its doors on Saturday, Aug. 15, attracting a long line of romance and fantasy lovers on opening day, and the store’s popularity has stayed strong in the days since.
The independent and woman-owned store features a large variety of romance, fantasy and thriller books and merchandise, along with multiple study nooks and seating, and a coffee bar serving a number of bespoke drinks with romance book-themed names, including “Golden Retriever Boyfriend” and “Men Written by Women”, which were all created and chosen by the staff, owner Shyann Reichard told the Daily Lobo.
Reichard came up with the idea for Vellum&Vine in October 2025 before officially deciding to turn the store into a reality in November.
“I only read romance and fantasy. It’s what I love, everywhere, whenever I travel, I look for romance bookstores,” Reichard said. “They’ve kind of popped up in the past, like, probably since COVID. They’ve just been showing up everywhere and I was like, ‘I’m traveling out of state to go to these stores. Why don’t I just open it in my hometown?’”
In the weeks leading up to Vellum&Vine’s opening, Reichard began promoting the store on Instagram and TikTok, and her videos quickly went viral among local readers — an Instagram reel announcing the bookstore’s location ahead of its opening amassed over 89,700 views at the time of publication, and the store had a combined following of over 21,000 on Instagram and TikTok as of Sept. 13.
When Reichard posted her first video after signing the lease for the location in May, she said she didn’t really have a marketing plan, but wanted to involve viewers in the process of starting her business.
“I just knew I wanted to take people on the adventure with me and document the process, and I was not expecting the first video I posted to blow up, and then it did, and then it had like 8,000 followers before we opened on TikTok and Instagram,” Reichard said.
Reichard even involved the store’s followers in the interior design process, putting up polls for viewers to vote on the wall colors.
“I think, from a marketing standpoint, [social media promotion] worked wonderfully for us because before we opened, we already had our customer base established… but with social media, I think it just goes to show what a huge role it can play in building a business,” Reichard said.
She said that the store’s inventory is still recovering from their opening weekend — Vellum&Vine sold 86% of their inventory and had to close for a couple days to allow the staff time to restock the shelves, and is still working to get above 55% of their original stock due to influxes of customers clearing the shelves each week.
“So it’s been fun, but also scary. You know, when it’s your baby, I don’t like seeing the shelves empty. It makes me sad, but as a business, like, you know, that’s good. You want your stuff to sell,” Reichard said. “I just want everyone to have a great experience every single time I come in here. I hope they are.”
Maria Fernandez is the copy editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at copy@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
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