Miami Bookstore Closes Its Doors After Fallout From Clash With Fox News Host

It’s a decision the owners didn’t want to make, and one its loyal supporters didn’t want to hear, but it’s official – Paradis Books and Bread is permanently closed, effective immediately. The news comes roughly one year after the leftist-friendly bookstore/cafe faced scrutiny for its treatment of a Fox News political analyst. More on what happened, and why, below!

What Is Paradis Books and Bread?

The real question is – what isn’t Paradis Books and Bread? It was a hangout, bookstore, cafe, wine bar, restaurant – all of the above! It opened in 2021 and was initially owned and operated by five unique people who came together with a similar vision.

Catered to the left (liberal Democrats), Paradis was located on W Dixie Highway – in the heart of North Miami, also known as NoMi. It offered an ‘intimate and communal space’ with books, wine, sourdough bread, and other snacks – the perfect combination of literature, cuisine, and social connection.

Paradis Announces Permanent Closure

On Feb. 12, the three remaining owners of Paradis – Audrey, Brian, and Bianca – posted a letter to their private Instagram account and website. “We have made the heavy decision not to reopen paradis, and this is our way of letting you know why,” the owners wrote at the beginning of the letter.

The owners were extremely honest, emotional, remorseful, and transparent in the letter. They didn’t pin their decision on any one reason or problem, but rather listed a number of factors – four, to be exact – that played a role in their permanent closure. They discussed those four reasons in detail, which we’ve summarized below.

1. Two Of The Five Owners Left Recently

Paradis was once owned and operated by five people, but there’s a reason only three of them were included in the letter – and that’s because two of them left a while ago. It was already hard enough trying to run the business with five people, but things only got harder when there were just three of them at the helm.

“The gradual disintegration of our team brought up a lot of difficult conversations, compromises, and, ultimately, the singular heartbreak of long-held friendships ending,” they wrote in the letter. It ultimately became too much to handle, so they decided it was time to hang it up for good.

2. Team Endured Personal Hardships

Then there were the personal hardships some of their owners had suffered over the past few years. For example, two of the owners (brother and sister) had to ‘take on an unexpected caretaking role for their loving and hilarious mother’ – something that took more out of them than they expected.

Not only that, but Bianca (the other remaining owner) lost her father earlier this year – someone she admired to the fullest. “For our family, such a loss demands to be honored with attention, time, and clarity,” she wrote – adding that she had to ‘reorient’ her ‘personal life and priorities.’

3. They Weren’t Fulfilling Their Vision

When they opened Paradis, they wanted it to be more about the wine and books – with snacks to keep everyone happy. Over time, it became less about the wine and books, and more about the food. While it wasn’t their intention, they eventually found themselves operating what felt like a full-blown restaurant.

“While we’ve filled paradis with our favorite books and wines, most people really just wanted the pizza. Our food program completely eclipsed every other aspect of the place both in what people usually wanted from the space and in what we had to spend most of our time doing,” the owners added.

4. The Fox News Incident Held Them Back

Of course, you can’t talk about the downfall of Paradis without mentioning the Fox News incident that has plagued them for the past 12 months. It all went down in Jan. 2023, when Gianno Caldwell – a political analyst for Fox News – walked into Paradis Books and Bread. All was well and good, until the owners kicked him out.

“While we were having discussions about politics we were told by the owner that we were not welcomed there because we aren’t politically aligned. Outrageous,” Caldwell wrote on X. He later elaborated that he was talking about what it was like ‘working over at Fox News,’ as well as other subjects – violent crime, his personal values, and progressive district attorneys.

Fox News Supporters Launch Vicious Attack On Paradis

Within a day, Caldwell’s post on X had been viewed by more than two million people. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, supporters of Caldwell (and Fox News, in general) started harassing the bookstore. Some of the messages they received were so alarming and threatening that they decided to temporarily close the shop several days later.

“After being targeted, we didn’t know if we would reopen again, and when we did, we knew we had to do our best to minimize potential harm to us and our community,” the owners added in the letter – adding that they had to change their hours to ensure no one was working alone.

Couldn’t Operate A Leftist Space And Business At The Same Time

The past few years have been a rollercoaster for the Paradis team, but they’re finally ready to put it all behind them. They slowly started to realize that operating a leftist-friendly space was hard enough – but trying to make a business out of it was just too impossible.

In trying to combine all their passions into one idea, they failed to give any one passion enough time, energy, and effort. They called it a ‘wacky experiment’ that was ‘extremely fun and surprisingly successful,’ but one that had ultimately run dry.

Paradis Thanks Their Guests For All The Good Times

While Paradis will no longer open its doors, the owners want to send a huge thank you to everyone who supported them. They also congratulated their haters for getting what they wanted – though they wanted to end their project on their own terms. And that’s what they did.

“But, to those who have loved us, supported our many changes, laughed with us, danced with us, and maybe even cried with us, we wanted to give you this parting explanation, as well as a wholehearted thank you,” they wrote of their supporters. With that, Paradis will close for good – never to open again.