Owners Ed Franklin and Celeste Dodwell are a pair of actors who are serving up coffee and pastries alongside the latest books in a cosy setting.
They live a 12 minute walk from work, and named their Grove Terrace store Funny Weather Books after a favourite work by Olivia Laing.
Ed said: “There’s been so much love and support from the neighbourhood.
“We knew there were local luminaries here but we’ve had so many actors, musicians and writers coming in – like Zadie Smith, Tracy Chevalier, Philippe Sands and Alan Hollinghurst – everyone has been so supportive.
“We’ve also lots of visitors coming in from the Heath – we opened in winter and the first sunny day it was very busy, so spring and summer are going to be fun.”
The independent store has been a labour of love for the couple who stumbled across the empty personal trainers’ studio by “blind luck”.
“We wanted to open a cafe and bookshop that takes both those elements seriously,” says Ed, who has combined his acting career with working as a bookseller.
“Either you get a cafe that sells the odd book or a great bookshop and the coffee is an afterthought. Here the coffee – from Routes Roastery in Oxford – is the best around and the book selection has been thoughtfully considered.
He adds: “We had never done anything like this before and it served us well not understanding just how much hard work it would be to turn it from a dilapidated gym into the vision that was in our imaginations.
“When we got the keys in the middle of last year it was still full of equipment – I remember angle grinding a running machine to get rid of it.
“We were trying to come up with a name for the shop and Funny Weather was a book that meant a lot to both of us.
“The colour came from a trip Celeste made to Copenhagen – she saw this very cool neighbourhood with mustard yellow shops – and we’ve added a tiled terracotta and a farmhouse wood interior to make it feel like you were walking into someone’s lived in, cosy relaxed home.”
Ed grew up in Crouch End and says he has a good feel for what locals will love.
“We are learning the ropes and really there are no house rules – we have a lot of poetry and plays, politics and history books and lots of beautiful children’s books from Japan and Italy that are beautiful objects in themselves.”
The idea is they can both act in between running the shop, which is also hosting regular book events.
Ed adds: “It’s just been us up to now and has taken all our time, and luckily neither of us have had any acting commitments – I have to go away and do some acting soon so it will be a test to see how it works with a few friends helping out.”
Funny Weather Books is at 31 Grove Terrace, NW5.
