After nine years working as a school psychologist, Ocean View’s Aimie Birmingham said it began to take its toll.
“I was starting to have physical health struggles related to the stress from the job, and I felt like I was too young for that,” Birmingham said.
“During peak moments of anxiety and burnout, reading became my escape.”
She said that after paying off her student loans, she felt less tied to the job and decided to leave education, but she was left facing that big question.
“What do I want to do with my life now?”
The answer was already at her fingertips. For years, Birmingham managed an Instagram account, Mermaid.Pages, dedicated to sharing books she was reading. She said publishers would send her advance copies to review and post. This allowed her to learn about publishers, and what readers were interested in.
She often dreamed of owning a bookstore, especially one close to the beach. Living in Ocean View, Birmingham said that the nearest independent bookstore was a 25-minute drive from her home.
“I decided to essentially build what I wanted to see in the community,” she said.
With no business experience, she began on a small scale. Birmingham spent the summer of 2025 researching, enrolled in an online course on business planning and joined the American Booksellers Association. Andrea Olachia, who owns Bloom OV, a local flower shop, guided Birmingham through setting up her LLC and completing tax paperwork.
The Cozy Cove Bookshop’s first pop-up took place in October 2025 at a COVA Brewing Company book club. Birmingham said a line was forming before she had finished setting up.
“I have always taken baby steps,” she said. She scheduled a few pop-ups each in November and December, tabled at her first larger community market event in January and began doing multiple events around February.
Her offerings center on adult genre fiction, romance, mystery, thriller, horror, and, more recently, science fiction. She organizes each case by genre, setting aside special shelves for queer stories and Latin authors. Birmingham, who is Puerto Rican and was raised in a bilingual family, noted she didn’t encounter that kind of representation in books until she was an adult.
“There were many flops along the way, but there were also many days where I had record-breaking sales that I didn’t think were possible, just by carrying what could fit in my car,” she said.
When she could no longer squeeze more books into her trunk and was still selling out, she and her husband, a Navy sailor, began to consider a permanent location. While a brick-and-mortar shop had always been the long-term goal, she hadn’t expected to reach it after just one year.
The opening happened fast. A neighboring business owner suggested to one of the owners of the East Beach Square shopping center that an empty space could be used for a holiday pop-up bookstore. Birmingham reached out to the number posted on the door. Just two weeks after getting approval was opening day. Her husband, Olachia, friends from her local running club and other small business owners all helped with setup and displays.
“It’s not as big of a risk for two months versus a five-year contract, but it’s still been a big jump,” Birmingham said with a laugh.
Birmingham said she will monitor sales and foot traffic at the storefront and still plans to host events. Everything she buys for the space now, she said, will eventually move to a permanent location, ideally somewhere nearby.
She said the opening happened so fast, she wasn’t able to plan a grand opening bash or any other celebrations.
“I will be open, and I will have books,” Birmingham said with a smile.
In addition to books, the shop offers stationery, gifts and cozy hobby items, and she partners with Libro.fm to sell audiobooks that benefit independent bookstores.
Her customers have volunteered to help at pop-ups and told her this is something they’ve been wanting and needing.
“I’m trying to make them proud, to be honest, because there’s just no way I could have done this without them.”
The Cozy Cove Bookshop is temporarily located at 9573 Shore Drive, Suite D, in Norfolk, and will operate through December.
