Zoe Golden and Jordan Pulaski in the Shockoe Bottom store. (Mike Platania)
The needle has dropped on a new music and book shop in Shockoe Bottom.
Small Friend Records & Books opened last month at 105 N. 17th St. in Shockoe Bottom.
Owned by married couple Zoe Golden and Jordan Pulaski, Small Friend buys, sells and trades new and used books and vinyl records.
Golden and Pulaski met while working at online grocer Relay Foods, which shut down in early 2017. Golden said they left the company before its shutdown and shortly after began pondering entrepreneurship.
“We had been saying we need to think of a way to start something of our own, where we could be our own bosses,” he said.
After settling on books and records, they named the store for their dog, a 4.5-pound Yorkipoo named Peluga, whose face also graces the store’s logo.
“It’s everything we love,” Golden said. “When we travel, that’s what we look for: record stores and book shops.”
On its bookshelves, Small Friend carries fiction, nonfiction and children’s books, while its bins are stuffed with vinyl records of all genres from classic rock to modern alternative.
Golden said they looked all over town before deciding on the 900-square-foot, split-level space, which the company is leasing.
Small Friend is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on six days per week, and closed Tuesdays.
The shop is located just a block north of the 17th Street Farmers Market, which is currently being renovated.
The blocks surrounding the farmer’s market have drawn interest from all sorts of businesses in recent months.
Earlier this spring, transportation startup Uzurv moved its headquarters to 27 N. 17th St., with Belmont Pizzeria’s founder planning another restaurant down the block at 3 N. 17th St.
Small Friend opened in April at 105 N. 17th St. (Mike Platania)
Zoe Golden and Jordan Pulaski in the Shockoe Bottom store. (Mike Platania)
The needle has dropped on a new music and book shop in Shockoe Bottom.
Small Friend Records & Books opened last month at 105 N. 17th St. in Shockoe Bottom.
Owned by married couple Zoe Golden and Jordan Pulaski, Small Friend buys, sells and trades new and used books and vinyl records.
Golden and Pulaski met while working at online grocer Relay Foods, which shut down in early 2017. Golden said they left the company before its shutdown and shortly after began pondering entrepreneurship.
“We had been saying we need to think of a way to start something of our own, where we could be our own bosses,” he said.
After settling on books and records, they named the store for their dog, a 4.5-pound Yorkipoo named Peluga, whose face also graces the store’s logo.
“It’s everything we love,” Golden said. “When we travel, that’s what we look for: record stores and book shops.”
On its bookshelves, Small Friend carries fiction, nonfiction and children’s books, while its bins are stuffed with vinyl records of all genres from classic rock to modern alternative.
Golden said they looked all over town before deciding on the 900-square-foot, split-level space, which the company is leasing.
Small Friend is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on six days per week, and closed Tuesdays.
The shop is located just a block north of the 17th Street Farmers Market, which is currently being renovated.
The blocks surrounding the farmer’s market have drawn interest from all sorts of businesses in recent months.
Earlier this spring, transportation startup Uzurv moved its headquarters to 27 N. 17th St., with Belmont Pizzeria’s founder planning another restaurant down the block at 3 N. 17th St.
Small Friend opened in April at 105 N. 17th St. (Mike Platania)
Welcome to the neighborhood, Small Friend!