Dolphin Bookshop Moving to Lower Main Street

Look for moving vans at The Dolphin Bookshop in June as the store relocates from Port Washington Boulevard to lower Main Street. After 21 years in its current location at 941 Port Washington Blvd., the shop is moving to the corner of Main Street and Shore Road in the space most recently occupied by Jolani Jewelers.

Dolphin's owner Patti Vunk is the second-generation of her family to run the store, which has occupied various locations in town during its 60-plus years in business. Vunk said she is moving for the "visibility" and to be in the lower Main Street arts and antiques district.

"This is Port Washington," said Vunk gesturing expansively outside the new location. "Dolphin Books should be on the port."

Vunk is leasing three adjoining spaces for the new store, taking 299, 301 and 301A Main Street, nearly doubling the store's current square footage. The largest space will house books for adults, gifts and stationery offerings; the children's books and toys will have their own room. Vunk said she also hopes to develop a café in the third space at some point down the road.

Vunk explained that she envisions the larger store more readily accommodating to gatherings for popular author readings and book signings, cozy reading nooks and eventually, and most importantly, a much-longed for café space. "For 40 years, I've wanted a café space in a bookstore," Vunk said. 

She said she sees the book store, with its more expansive gathering space, at the intersection of two of Port's busiest roads, as a critical spoke in a community hub.

"I feel like every community should have a bookstore, every community should have a hardware store, every community should have a center, not just for financial health, but to help shape and create community," Vunk said.

A Port Washington retail institution, The Dolphin Bookstore is moving into a space imbued with local history. The shop will reside in the Alfred C. Bayles Building, home to Bayles Pharmacy, first established in 1872. The Bayles Building was built in 1916 after the original was destroyed by fire. Trivia buffs will enjoy knowing that Port Washington's very first phone was installed there in 1893. 

Civic group Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington (RFMBPW), which is advocating the creation of a lower Main Street overlay district with an emphasis on arts and culture, welcomed the news of the store's move.

"We think this is a perfect home for Dolphin's unique and eclectic bookshop," said Mindy Germain, executive director of RFMBPW. "We couldn't be happier and we think it will become a destination within the 'Arts and Antique District.'"

Neighboring retailers are equally hopeful the store will attract more shoppers to the area. "The more stores, the more people," said Susan Micelotta, owner of décor boutique White Plus One.

"It's a plus-plus for everyone down here," agreed Gayle Silver, owner of home furnishings emporium Painting with Flowers. "I'd love for lower Main Street to have a mini-Soho feeling and Dolphin is a wonderful fit."

As an independent retailer, with a carefully curated product selection, Dolphin prides itself on the high-quality of its merchandise. "Our philosophy of buying for the store is weeding out the ordinary, the mass-market stuff and really by doing that, by creating an experience of quality for the buyer," Vunk said. "We give people the experience of going to a store that has depth and history and that wasn't just planned in a board room, that is cookie cutter."

Dolphin Book shopper Sarah Cirker was shopping for her daughter's birthday gift when she learned about the new location. "It's close to my home," enthused Cirker. "It's great. It's a big spot, parking out back and the new lot across the street. It's going to be great."

Long-time Dolphin patron Joan Lynch was also enthusiastic. "I love that corner space," said Lynch, who has been shopping at Dolphin in its various locations for more than 40 years. "It's so pretty and it's much more Port Washington."