First there were books. Then there was coffee. Next there will be alcohol, and maybe weed too.
Customers walking into Haven Books & Café can expect to see alcoholic beverages on the menu this fall, as vice-president (finance) Jacob Howell looks to acquire a liquor license to expand the off-campus bookstore run by the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA).
“The idea is if you want to have a casual drink with your book, I guess now you can,” Howell told the Charlatan in an interview.
CUSA will be investing $300 towards a liquor license, according to this year’s operating budget passed at an Aug. 28 council meeting.
It remains unclear exactly how much alcohol CUSA intends to sell at Haven Books.
The association has not budgeted for the purchase of alcohol to be sold by the business, unlike Oliver’s Pub & Patio—an on-campus CUSA-run business that already sells alcohol.
“Obviously we’re not looking to make it into another Oliver’s,” said Howell, “but maybe more of a wine sort of thing.”
“We’ll definitely have options for people for what they can drink, but we won’t jump all the way in.”
In March, CUSA introduced a café addition to Haven Books after a series of delays since the idea was first brought up during a 2018 budget meeting.
Then vice-president (finance) Luke Taylor said adding the café to the bookstore was a way to maximize the utility of the space.
“It’s only used for the most part during the beginnings of each semester to sell books,” Taylor said at the time. “Then, the next two or three months, not a lot of foot traffic goes through.”
Howell said selling alcohol is another step towards an expansion of the bookstore that Taylor started. “It attracts a new market,” he said, comparing Haven Books to cafés he’s seen in Toronto that also sell alcohol.
“Now you can come to Haven every day at 6 o’clock or once a week for book club and have a glass of wine.”
Howell also expects the store to expand business by selling cannabis in future years.
“I think a good thing for Haven would be to slowly transition from being just a bookstore to more than that,” he said. “Cannabis would create that new market for Haven.”
“It’ll be that one cool thing we offer that makes us different.”
Haven Books is located at Seneca St. and Sunnyside Ave., less than a five-minute bus ride from campus.
File photo.
