The Princess Store

On my regular Monday walk to The Donut Pub, which sells the best donuts in the world, my husband and I passed by an empty storefront. It was a beautiful space—large, light and airy and a whole wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. There were no partitions inside, just a wide open floor.

“Look at that space!” I exclaimed. “I could open a princess store!” He’s used to my whimsy so he said, “What’s a princess store?” I replied, “It’s a store when you can buy or rent princess-style gowns, tiaras, glass slippers and buy books about princesses, like A Little Princess, Princess Academy, The Princess Bride, A Princess in Tatters and The Princess of the Chalet School. And then you could put your princess dress on and spin around in the middle of the store so that you can see your skirt float around you.”

To his credit, my husband didn’t snicker. He just said, “But do you think you can pay the rent with that? It doesn’t seem like a good business plan. And your product line would be limited.” I said, “We can sell princess cupcakes and other baked goods. I already have a princess cookie cutter! It’ll help boost the bottom line. And this space looks like it’s been vacant for a while. I could probably get it for cheap.”

I have other ideas, like action figures of Sara Crewe and Miss Minchin from A Little Princess and Miri from Shannon Hale’s Princess Academy. Heck, we’d have an entire Shannon Hale section due to the number of books she’s written about strong, smart princesses-types like Isi from The Goose Girl and Dashti from Book of a Thousand Days. We’d also have a section on fairy princesses, princesses from ballets, Princess Leia and a nook on Disney princesses just to be completely inclusive.

Imagine taking your lunch hour to curl up with a princess book in a velvet chair and eat a cupcake with pastel-covered flowers? Or taking a break from work to cast off your business suit for a long gown of tulle and lace? It would be better than meeting Prince Charming!