It’s true love when an Orlando woman opens a romance bookstore

When Jane Rodriguez was conceptualizing her romance-only bookstore — the first of its kind in Orlando — she took inspiration from another thing she loves.

“The name of the New Romantics was inspired, actually, by a Taylor Swift song,” said Rodriguez. “It’s called ‘New Romantics.’ And I think that I was literally just listening to it one day, and I was like, ‘Wait a minute, this would be a really cool name for a romance-only bookstore.'”

Rodriguez and The New Romantics became a part of a national trend in entrepreneurship. From 2007 until 2022, the growth of Latino-owned businesses outpaced the growth of white-owned businesses, according to a survey from the Stanford Graduate School of Business released earlier this year. Yet the same survey also found that Latina-owned businesses had a harder time finding financing, echoing Rodriguez’s experience.

“I was applying for loans and no one was really giving me any attention,” Rodriguez said. “It got to the point where I decided to take loans out from family members. And I was grateful that they were willing to help contribute and make the dream come true. And they were there with me holding the ribbon at our ribbon-cutting ceremony.”