‘Welcomed and supported’: Meant Well Books opens location in Estevan Village

Meant Well Books has become one of Greater Victoria’s favourite booksellers after launching their mobile book truck just under a year and a half ago. 

Now, they have officially opened a brick-and-mortar location in Oak Bay’s Estevan Village, located at 2534 Estevan Avenue. 

The mobile book truck was launched in June 2025 by Melanie Brouwer and her now 10-year-old daughter Arlo, who operated the business out of a small, Japanese Kei truck. 

Together, the mother and daughter duo popped-up at local events and markets before getting into organizing their own events. 

Since then, they have organized several reading party events which have drawn hundreds of book-lovers from throughout Greater Victoria who sought connection through reading. 

“What we realized really quickly was that there was a lot of appetite from people to not only read books, but find community around books,” Brouwer told Victoria Buzz. 

In their first summer, they sold over 500 books and aimed to build off that momentum in summer 2026. 

One way they did this was by custom building a book scooter to compliment their truck and enable Meant Well Books to pop-up at even more events, as well as make deliveries for online shoppers. 

Brouwer says that although she wasn’t necessarily looking for a brick-and-mortar location, she found one she just couldn’t pass up on. 

“I wasn’t actively looking for it, but I was actively on Facebook Marketplace, just as a pastime of mine, and I saw an ad there with just one picture of the space,” she explained. 

“I reached out and there was a lot of interest in it, but I immediately just had a really strong feeling that it was the right spot—I love Estevan Village, I think the location is amazing with it being just a couple blocks from the ocean, there’s a ton of small businesses there, a kind of small town vibe.”

She added that she believed Meant Well Books would mix well with the other surrounding businesses. 

Opening weekend at Meant Well Books

Once she secured the space, she and Arlo were given a warm welcome from the community. 

“There’s a huge community of readers in Estevan Village,” she added. 

“Everyone there that I’ve met that’s just in the neighbourhood loves books, loves reading and have gone out of their way to talk about that.”

After doing some renovations, stocking up on books and making the shop feel cozy and inviting, Meant Well Books opened on the first weekend of October.

“Opening weekend was really surreal,” said Brouwer. 

She noted that on their first day, they had a lineup of people before they even opened which was sustained throughout the day.

“We were a little shocked, but were mostly blown away by people’s kindness of everyone who showed up.”

On opening day, a neighbourhood resident even brought them flowers from her garden, the Thai restaurant next door brought food over to make sure they were eating and a longtime supporter of Meant Well brought Arlo a teddy bear to celebrate the opening, she added. 

“Everyone was just going out of their way to make sure we felt welcomed and supported,” said Brouwer.

“I think I would have cried if I had time to cry because it was just so busy.”

The opening day ended up tripling Meant Well’s previous best business day on the truck, which Brouwer says felt amazing, but she was more focused on the touching interactions she had throughout the day. 

Many titles were sold out over the first weekend which have since been restocked. 

What does Meant Well Books have to offer

With a whole shop to curate, rather than the finite shelves of the book truck, Brouwer said she tried her best to pay attention to selecting books for the shop that offer something for everyone. 

“We still want to have non-fiction, fiction, kids’ books, a little bit of graphic novels, a little bit of poetry,” she explained.

“We want a mix of best sellers and some that are a bit more niche.”

She noted that through running the truck, she has learned to listen to what the community wants when curating her shelves. 

Thus far, Meant Well’s bestsellers have been Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros, Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin and Fruit Fly by Josh Silver

“What was really interesting about the opening weekend was we had such a huge variety in the types of titles—from romantasy to sci-fi to classics to international cult classics,” she said. 

“It was really fun to see the range of what people were checking out with.”

Additionally, the shop features a whole shelf which is dedicated to kids’ books, and is largely curated by Arlo. 

“As she’s getting a bit older now, she’s reading some of my books too, so she’s been making recommendations to customers about adult books to try out,” said Brouwer.  

“She’s really diving into her customer support era.”

Aside from books, Meant Well has stocked some vintage home goods, which are curated by two sisters Brouwer has partnered with. 

They also have started stocking a handful of vinyl records, which are thoughtfully paired with book selections and sold at 10% off for those who buy the pairing. 

Furthermore, Meant Well is now the city’s newest hub, or ‘Letter-Keeper’ for the Sunday Letter Project, which allows people to receive and write letters with others from around the world. 

They will also be organizing events through their new space, such as book themed dinners and wine nights in the coming months. 

For the next few weeks, Meant Well Books is just open on weekends—Saturdays and Sundays.

Beginning on November 12th, the shop will be expanding its hours to be open from Thursday to Sunday, and will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. 

Those who have come to know and love their book truck and scooter need not worry, both will be out and active in the community in the spring and summer next year!