I wanted oh so very much to include this chapter in the Oldest Tampa Bay... but I just wasn't sure it would reopen. There were rumors that it would, then that it wouldn't, then that it would again, all of which resulted in probably more ink being spent on any inaccessible trove of literature since the legendary Great Library of Alexandria. Ultimately, it seems I made the right choice to omit it from the book as it has officially closed, but I thought it would be nice to remember it here on my blog.
Oldest Bookstore – 1933
Haslam’s Book Store
2025 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33713
The Great Depression, which started in 1929 and lasted through 1941, might seem like a counterintuitive time to have started a retail business, but John and Mary Haslam felt otherwise when they opened a small used magazine and book store. In those lean initial years, they applied creativity and entrepreneurship to keep the business going. Customers could rent books from the store for just two pennies per day, and the owners also sold an assortment of handmade gifts.
As the economy recovered, the business expanded and changed location multiple times. Following World War II, the Haslams’ son and daughter-in-law, Charles and Elizabeth, joined the founding couple in managing the business. At the request of customers, they added technical books, religious books and Bibles, and a full selection of trade books. In 1964 the store moved to its current location in the Grand Central District, with 30,000 square feet and an inventory of over 300,000 titles. Charles Haslam began hosting the Sunday afternoon TV show, “The Wonderful World of Books,” which enjoyed a 15-year run on WEDU.
The same year that the bookstore moved to its present address, beat generation author Jack Kerouac moved in with his mother and his third wife just blocks away. He became a regular at Haslam’s, where it became his habit to rearrange shelves and bring his own books to the front of the store to give them greater prominence. Some claim that he continues this practice in the afterlife as one of the many ghosts alleged to haunt the store.
In 1973 the third generation of the Haslam family joined the business when Charles and Elizabeth’s daughter, Suzanne, and her husband, Ray Hinst, came onboard and continue to own the business today.
Sadly, as of this writing, the store has remained “temporarily closed,” in a COVID-induced coma since 2020. Until such time as the owners announce plans to either reopen or close the store, many (this author included) have expressed hopes that Haslam’s current state will one day be viewed as a prolonged interlude in its long and storied history, rather than its epilogue.
Sidebar:
While Haslam’s remains closed, other nearby options for bibliophiles include Tombolo Books, Oxford Exchange, Back in the Day Books, Books at Park Place, Portkey Books, The Gilded Page, Book +Bottle, and the Paperback Exchange in Port Richey.
