The Little Bubblegum Bookshop, the first brick-and-mortar romance bookstore in Rhode Island, opened its doors on Oct. 25. Located at 103 Wickenden St., the shop specializes in romance titles that range from fantasy to dark romance.
The store — which can house up to about 800 books — intentionally curates its collection by considering customer recommendations and centering works by diverse authors, said Erin Masse, founder and owner of the store.
While she explained the store’s size means that customers searching for a specific book may not be able to find a certain title, Masse noted that it’s sometimes “more fun to find a book you weren’t even looking for.”
“It’s a small selection, but it’s very diverse,” said Jenna Menne, a tourist from Texas who visited the store Nov. 2.
As the store grows, Masse plans to create an LGBTQ+ section in the store and add more titles featuring people of color “so people can see themselves in the books,” she said. The store will also hold community events and aim to center local authors, Masse added.
The store’s opening coincides with a rise in the romance genre’s popularity, which has cultivated a “community around romance books,” Masse said.
While physical book sales have declined in recent years, sales of print romance books jumped from 18 million copies in 2020 to 39 million copies in 2023.
Masse claimed that romance books have historically been categorized as separate from “typical literary fiction,” but this “stigma” around romance is fading, shifting the focus to the work of “strong, powerful women authors.”
She hopes her store will be a space where romance lovers, especially women in their 20s and 30s, can congregate.
For some of the store’s first visitors, the space is already achieving that goal.
“I drop into people’s conversations all the time when I’m in bookstores,” Menne said, adding that shopping in person often provides her the opportunity to find new communities.
Lily Budnick ’26, who visited the store Nov. 1 after her roommate heard about the opening on TikTok, said the store “definitely has the chance to build community” among romance readers.
While Budnick said the store is “marketed to the people already interested in romance novels,” she noted that it also sells tote bags and stickers that “appeal to everybody, even the non-reader.”
And for Masse, this community-building is starting to pay off. While she said that opening a bookstore amid a rise in chain bookstores and online shopping trends is “definitely a risk,” she has “felt the support” of community members who make it a point to assist local businesses.
“If I’m going to spend my money, I’d much rather give it to a small business than Amazon,” Budnick said.
Hayane Miranda, who visited the store on Nov. 2 from Massachusetts, has entirely stopped buying books online, she said. Adding that she works a remote job, Miranda explained that visiting bookstores gives her “a reason to get out of the house.”
Valerie Sonnenthal, partial owner of the Corliss Corner building that houses the new bookshop, applauded Masse “for following her dream and creating such a welcoming space and bookshop,” she wrote in an email to The Herald.
Sonnenthal’s building also contains grocery store Seymour Foods, which is co-owned by Lisa Kellogg.
Kellogg said she was “shocked” to see a line around the corner on opening day, she wrote in an email to The Herald.
“Erin’s get-stuff-done attitude and bubbly personality has breathed life into the space,” she added.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Valerie Sonnenthal owns part of Corliss Corner, not the entire building. The Herald regrets the error.
Maya Kelly is a senior staff writer from Providence who covers business and development. A concentrator in urban studies and data fluency, she is passionate about intersecting storytelling with data analysis. When Maya's not at The Herald, you can find her hanging from an aerial silk, bullet journaling or in the middle of a forest.
