Lightning strikes, and Éclair pop-up bookshop is born

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A bookseller, a barista and a baby walk into a café...

No, it's not the setup to a joke or the premise behind a rom-com, but the story of how a chance encounter led to the founding of an intrepid little pop-up bookstore called Éclair.

When lightning strikes

Our setting is Café Odessa, an intimate neighbourhood hangout on Beaubien Street in Montreal's Rosemont district.

That's where mother-of-two Chantale Potie would go to escape the house for a few hours, with her newborn son Noah in tow. 

"I would just stand and, like, rock and drink my coffee when he wasn't crying. It would be a nice break," said Potie, who was on maternity leave at the time. 

It wasn't long before other café patrons came over cooing to Noah's stroller and started striking up conversations.

But Potie, a lifelong reader and an employee at Drawn & Quarterly, found her most interesting conversations were with the person behind the counter — barista Éléonore Schreiber. 

"I would come in with a book, and we'd talk about books, and I'd say, 'I want to read more in French; what do you recommend?,' and she would suggest things," said Potie.

Eventually, Potie opened up about an idea she'd had two years earlier — of launching her own pop-up bookshop that only sold a select few, hand-picked titles. 

"You walk into a bookstore and sometimes, it can be so overwhelming. There are so many options, and you don't know what's good and what's not," said Potie. 

An unlikely partnership

Her ideas didn't fall on deaf ears. Schreiber, herself an avid reader who takes on everything from French poetry to Stephen King's thickest tomes, was eager to see the concept become a reality. 

"[Her] youngest kid was still very much a baby," said Schreiber, "so it wasn't something she could do right away, but she kept telling me, 'I want to do this, I want to do this!'" 

After long afternoons over countless cups of coffee and more poking and prodding at the concept, Schreiber made her move. 

"I really want to work with you on this," Schreiber says she told Potie. 

"I think it aligns with something I would want to be doing."

"I have no money to pay you," Schreiber says Potie told her.

"I don't care," she replied.

Making it happen together

It's not a typical business partnership, but the two women have an odd-couple dynamic that works to their advantage.

The reserved Potie poured over a two-page longlist to select books for the shop, while Schreiber took care of social media and the shop's website. 

"It's a lot of like, going on a terrasse and having a beer … lots of craft beer, so, thank you craft beer makers of Quebec, this project is dedicated to you! Or like, going to Chantal's house when her kids are sleeping — or refuse to be sleeping," said Schreiber, eliciting laughs from Potie. 

For Potie, turning Éclair from a bucket-list dream to a reality couldn't have happened without Schreiber as a partner. And it all happened by chance, over a mid-afternoon cup of coffee. 

"I've had this long career of searching, like a lost little puppy, trying different things but not really finding my path," said Potie.

"I feel like with this project, this is how it's all supposed to culminate — like this is what everything is leading me to."

Éclair's first pop-up shop launches Nov. 2 at Café Odessa, 65 Beaubien Street East. Titles will be on sale at the café for the whole month of November. More pop-up events will be planned throughout the year.