Prelude Roasters and Word Of Mouth Books - A Perfect Pair
Many things go well with coffee: pastries, friends, and a stroll, to name a few. But, nothing quite beats a hot cup of coffee and a new book. Now the two can be savored together at Word of Mouth Books located inside Prelude Coffee Roasters. With comfort provided by natural lighting, freshly ground coffee beans, and spotlit shelves of curated books, it’s a safe space perched above the busy 8th Street Market where you can spend a lazy weekend morning or relax before moving on to your next to-do.
What occurred by happenstance turned into a great pairing of creature comforts. During a year-long COVID-induced closure in 2020, Pryce Fischer, Prelude’s owner and roaster, met Nick Bremmer, owner of Word of Mouth Books. Nick was doing book pop-ups in coffee shops around the city. At the time, Pryce and his partner Sam were reevaluating their business and made a plan to move their roasting equipment to Fair-Weather Friend, which meant open space at their 8th Street location. It was the perfect timing, as Nick was looking for a brick-and-mortar space of his own. The partnership was, as Nick saw it, “a good spot to lay roots and grow with the environment.”
Pryce and Nick share the same outlook on their craft — to be intentional.
Born and raised in Brazil, Pryce grew up surrounded by family while drinking cafezinho, a particularly delicious-sounding black coffee sweetened with a generous amount of unrefined sugar. “Coffee is what you did when you got together with people,” says Pryce. “Coffee…is this launching pad for everyone. Coffee was at the center of everything else in our life that was important.”
Nick was working in the coffee industry while substitute teaching, which led him to discover his love for books. After trying to open a brick-and-mortar, it became clear that a pop-up model would be more feasible. “We decided to make some bookcases, we built them to fit in my Subaru Outback and decided to figure out what type of local businesses could host us. Books and coffee just go hand-in-hand.”
Since the partnership, Pryce has noticed “more caring, more kindness,” and, naturally, more substantial conversations between the customers. Both owners expressed how coffee and books are the perfect marriage of the two crafts; they have the power to bring people in the community together and foster new friendships.
> Prelude Coffee Roaster & Word of Mouth Books, 3 NE 8th Street, Oklahoma City; (405) 445-4353; preludecoffeeroasters.com; wordofmouthbooksokc.com
