You can rent out this Philadelphia bookstore for a COVID-friendly date night

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The inside of a hole-in-the-wall bookstore in Kensington may just be the cutest COVID-19-friendly date spot in Philadelphia.

More than 35 couples, including Colin and Lisa Weir from Gray's Ferry, have rented out The Head & The Hand bookstore for a curated date night.

"It felt really normal," said Lisa Weir, describing the night.

"We'll put your name on it and the date you're here in the store and if it's an anniversary or a birthday, we'll add that on there," explained Claire Moncla, the creative director of The Head & The Hand, who came up with the idea as an idea to promote the store, that was otherwise struggling during the pandemic.

"People want curated experiences and especially during COVID, they want those to be safe and I felt like I, for myself, what would I want to do," she said.

She thought giving a couple the option to have the space to themselves would be a safe and fun way to get out of the house.

"We're a really small business and we limit the amount of foot traffic that we get in here during COVID so I thought this is a little bit safer than a restaurant being indoors because there's less foot traffic and you're here by yourselves," she said.

The $65 date night comes complete with a table for two and 90 minutes alone in the bookstore.

"Having that dedicated time felt really indulgent, I felt. and because we got to bring food, we got wine, it was really romantic, there was candlelight. It was perfect," said Lisa Weir.

One of the fun features of date night is a short story dispenser, where you can wave your hand over a machine and it prints out the story on a receipt.

"It was word of mouth how it spread so quickly. People would come they would have a great experience, they would tell their friends and their friends would book," Moncla said.

The Head & The Hand is booked through the end of the month and the revenue from the dates is keeping the store afloat.

"I love hosting and I haven't been able to really do that since COVID so this is really scratching an itch for me and I'd love to expand it, "said Moncla.