We are
Organization: Bibliotheque
Date Opened: December 2023
Address: 54 Mercer Street
Hours of Operation: 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. daily
In December, Bibliotheque opened its doors on Mercer Street. We are thrilled to welcome them to the SoHo Broadway corridor and wish them success in our district. We had the opportunity to chat with co-owner A.J. Jacono to learn more about what makes their business unique.
Tell us about your business.
Bibliotheque is a bookstore, café, and wine bar on Mercer Street. We house over 10,000 books in a gorgeous, intentionally constructed space that also features work from artists like Rashid Johnson, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Longo, and much, much more.
What brought your business to SoHo?
SoHo is filled with enthusiastic people who not only support the arts, but produce it. Bibliotheque is, at its heart, a space for these sorts of creatives. It strives to be a space that fosters the kind of conversations that you might overhear in a vintage French salon: engaging, intellectual, stimulating, and convivial.
We couldn’t be more excited or honored to open a business like this in one of the most beautiful parts of New York.
What sets your business apart from the rest?
At the beginning of this journey, were shocked to learn that there isn’t an equivalent to Bibliotheque in SoHo. There are a number of bookstores in the area, but most are strictly retail, meaning few offer food, beverages, and a place to sit. Even fewer literary-leaning businesses serve alcohol.
Bookstore/wine bar hybrids aren’t new, but for some reason, they aren’t ubiquitous in a city that seems ripe for this mixture. The best—and perhaps the only—comparison to Bibliotheque is Book Club Bar in the East Village, but Bibliotheque is entirely different in atmosphere and execution.
More than anything else, we hope to make Bibliotheque a social space for the bookworms, coffee aficionados, and wine lovers of New York—and beyond!
