Patchouli Joe’s opened in 2019, but its story begins in 1977 in Germany. Shop owners Joe and Diane Mayes first met in Haan, Germany, where they spent just one year at the same high school near an Air Force base and immediately clicked. “The chances of us meeting 5,000 miles away in Germany were pretty slim,” Joe said. But 38 years passed before they spoke again. Diane sent Joe an out-of-the-blue Facebook message on New Years’ Eve in 2016. “Do you remember me?” She asked after coincidentally coming across Joe. Of course, he remembered.
Without much hesitation or time, the couple was engaged and married. They moved to Leander and opened Patchouli Joe’s Books & Indulgences.
Diane dreamed of opening a “smell-good” store. Joe, an avid reader and writer, wanted to open a bookshop. Together, their shop sells books, art, candles, cards, coffee and a motley of “indulgences” as the only independent bookstore in Leander.
When COVID-19 effects hit Texas, the Mayeses were about to embark on new store plans such as author events and reading camps. But as small-business owners, “pivoting” became the new normal. The shop has kept open through the pandemic as an educational material provider but quickly turned to curbside and porch deliveries.
