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Wisconsin's first romance bookstore is in Wauwatosa
The Well Red Damsel, a store in the Milwaukee area, is making its own happily ever after by creating a first-of-its-kind space and forming a community along the way.
WAUWATOSA, Wis. - A store in the Milwaukee area is making its own happily ever after, creating a first-of-its-kind space and forming a community along the way.
The Well Red Damsel
What we know:
Romance is the top-selling book genre in the world. It's so big that one bookstore in Wauwatosa only sells love stories.
The Well Red Damsel
"We launched November 2024 at Ray's Bar in [Wauwa]tosa," explained Natasha Meyer, the owner of The Well Red Damsel (6429 W. North Avenue). "I had a bookshelf and one table and I think we had [more than] 300 people come out for like a two-hour little pop-up of just, ‘hey, come check this out.’ It's kind of only gotten crazier from there."
From pop-up events to a brick and mortar location, The Well Red Damsel officially opened its doors in June 2025.
First-of-its-kind
Dig deeper:
The store was a first-of-its-kind for Wisconsin and is already a huge success. Still, owner Natasha Meyer said they're not always taken seriously.
The Well Red Damsel collection
"I think it's a lot of, it's the people that don't read romance that don't understand it," Meyer said. "The romance book industry is kind of what keeps the rest of the publishing world alive. It's the biggest portion of sales for publishing in the world out of all the genres. So if you follow the money, people should know that romance is the way to go."
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Whether you call yourself a romance fan or not, Meyer said you can find the themes of friendship, love and family in anything.
The Well Red Damsel collection
While the store is decked out in pink and red with plenty of bows and hearts, being a business owner isn't always a walk in the park.
"This store is all self-funded, so just keeping the doors open really does take all of our customers coming in and supporting us all the time," Meyer explained. "We do a lot of events too, which I love."
Events at the bookstore
What you can do:
It's in those events that The Well Red Damsel thrives. From five different book clubs each month, to author meet-and-greets almost every weekend, the store is always planning something new.
Event at the Well Red Damsel
It's not just readers who benefit, authors like Elle Wright love it too.
"That's the best part is meeting readers, getting to know them," Wright said. "I just love that they are so passionate about the stories, even just to email you or slide in your DMs and say, ‘This resonated with me. It made me think about my mother or my ex or my husband’, or it gives people hope."
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Wright released her 35th novel earlier this month and had the chance to celebrate at The Well Red Damsel.
The Well Red Damsel
Reading, something you usually do by yourself, is now becoming a whole community. Creating friendships for people like Lily, who found the store on Instagram and decided to go to a book club.
What they're saying:
"I had moved from Montana," said romance reader Lily. "I didn't know anyone in the state of Wisconsin and I was like, ‘I love books. I bet I could find some good people’ and I have some very good friends now because of it."
"When you come in, you find a tribe, and that tribe will follow you everywhere," explained Wright.
The Well Red Damsel collection
"There's been times when girls come to book club together, and I thought they've been friends forever, and it turns out they just met at one of our events," Meyer mentioned. "It's the reason I keep doing this. Like, I feel like I tear up every time I talk about it, but it makes all the hard days worth it."
New space for fantasy books
What we know:
The store continues to grow, recently expanding and opening a new area dedicated to fantasy books. Meyer is looking to extend the store's reach far beyond southeastern Wisconsin.
"We're also on a challenge right now," said Meyer. "I'm trying to ship to all 50 states in 2026. We're halfway through February, and I've shipped to 26 states."
The Well Red Damsel
If you've never dipped your toe into the world of romance, Meyer has the perfect recommendation of where to start.
"My usual go-to for somebody who's never read romance is something [by author] Emily Henry because I feel they're funny, they're quick, there's so much heart to them."
What you can do:
The Well Red Damsel is open six days a week, with new books arriving every Tuesday. You are invited to view a full list of upcoming events and store hours.
The Source: Information in this post was provided by The Well Red Damsel.