COMMUNITY
“Dawn had been the editor of the school newspaper; I was
the editor of the magazine. We fired each other our senior
year and didn’t speak for 27 years. Now we’ve been married
for 10.”
Haggblom was with Barnes & Noble for 18 years in New
York and Florida before the corporation laid off 2,500 employees
— including him. The idea of opening his own
bookstore came about five minutes later. “It’s important to
determine interest before you invest time and money into an
idea, but everyone I talked to showed interest.” A retail bookstore
would fill an obvious need with no competition. “Port
St. Lucie is the eighth-largest city in Florida, but businesses
must deal with the sprawl. There really should be a more active
creative community here — we have an amazing amount
of talent here, with artists, writers and musicians.”
POET’S CORNER
Poetic Justice is in Morningside Shops at the corner of Port
St. Lucie and Morningside Boulevards, its walls adorned with
the work of local artists and, of course, bookshelves featuring
classics, local authors and children’s books. Poetry is a
featured section with a clientele that might seem surprising.
Currently, teenagers are driving sales. “They’re exposed to
poetry with what we call ‘Instagram poets’ who engage with
kids and have something to say.” He likens the phenomenon
to a gateway drug. “Kids can only read so much of it before
they’re bored, but it’s introduced them to the poetry genre
which opens up a whole world for them. Instagram poetry
attracts them in electronic form, and then they come in here
to buy a book.”
Speaking of electronics, he recalls the time at Barnes & >>
Poetic Justice owner Kris Haggblom also sells gift items such as Bird’s Eye
View, which combines his photography and recycled film cartridges.
POETIC JUSTICE BOOKS & ARTS
1774 S.E. Port St. Lucie Blvd., Port St. Lucie
772.249.5678
Open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday 12-6 p.m.;
Friday 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
www.poeticjusticebooks.com
poeticjusticebna@gmail.com
The Port St. Lucie Chamber of Commerce set up a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Poetic Justice owners, Kris and Dawn Haggblom, center
Port St. Lucie Magazine 35
/www.poeticjusticebooks.com
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