Photography by Geanine Jamison
With her husband and four daughters by her side, Jen Dalton’s lifelong wish to own a bookstore comes to life at White Crab Coffee and Books in Topsail Beach.
As a child waiting for the Bookmobile to visit her small town in Minnesota, Jen Dalton wished she owned a bookstore.
She wished for a bookstore as she took her daughters to story hour at her local library or bookstore/coffeeshop. She wished for a bookstore and bakery as she made brownies, chocolate chip cookies, quick breads and coffeecakes in her home kitchen in Minnesota. She wished it when daughter Emma, who was then working in New York City, sent fresh roasted coffee from her local roaster BKG.
That wish came true as Jen and her husband, Mike, moved their family from Minnesota to Topsail Beach, purchased the former Quarter Moon Books and Gifts and transformed it into White Crab Coffee and Books, the store of Jen’s dreams.
Emma and Grace, her two oldest daughters, graduates of High Point University and UNCW respectively, work with Jen in the day-to-day running of the shop. Two more daughters are in still school — Greta is a senior at UNCW and Ellie is an eighth grader in Pender County schools.
Locals and visitors seeking a book, a slice of pumpkin bread or just a good cup of joe can find that and more at White Crab Coffee and Books (WCCB), which opened in early October 2025.
A fresh, beach-inspired interior features white and navy shelves of books on a sand-colored floor covered with area rugs. Pops of blue are everywhere — in shelves and tables and displays of their signature WCCB t-shirts and sweatshirts designed by Greta, Jen’s third daughter. Jen and her family are thrilled to open after more than a year of planning.
Just inside the large front window, two comfortable sand-colored chairs and a caramel-colored couch surround a blue-patterned woven rug creating a perfect spot for morning coffee or catching up with a friend. The other front window hosts a coffee bar with white woven bar stools so folks can sit quietly, sipping coffee as the sun moves across the sky.
But the best addition are the shelves and shelves of books.
“We have a variety of books, more than just the best sellers,” says Grace, one of the shops’ baristas and an avid reader.
The focus of the shop is the books. Shelves are lined with a mix of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, including a good selection of North Carolina authors. Shelves hold books that take the reader to imagined worlds and books that look at existing worlds. Books by best-selling authors like Ann Patchett and Taylor Jenkins Reid sit alongside books known as “beach reads.” Can’t find the book you want? Patrons can order books both at the store and online.
All the Daltons are readers. Their different tastes in books are reflected across the bookstore’s many shelves. Mike enjoys mysteries, especially by John Grisham. Jen enjoys family stories, including those by Emma Straub, whom she met recently at the Read with Jenna Book Festival in Nashville. Jen and her daughters also met author Elin Hilderbrand and host Jenna Bush at the book festival.
“I want the community to enjoy this space,” Jen says, looking around the remodeled space, seeing her wish come true. “I hope they hang out with a cup of coffee, while exploring a book.”
A sandcastle mural on the wall signals the children’s section with child-height bookshelves holding board books, picture books and chapter books. Unstructured, comfy chairs host little ones during story time.
“We’ll be an event-oriented place,” says Emma, who, along with Grace, picked up her barista skills during college. “We will bring in authors for readings, have a story hour for kids and have a children’s book club.”
Other plans in the works include a community book club, open mics for the local literary crowd, and other craft and themed family events.
An outdoor turf area filled with cozy bean bag chairs is a great hangout for teen readers.
The front decking, rebuilt and filled with comfortable furniture (Adirondack chairs, a porch swing and tables and chairs) sits ready to host events.
Walking past a table full of ocean-themed notecards, displays of hundreds of greeting cards, cocktail napkins and various gifts geared toward the commercial kitchen, Jen mentions that she likes things to have a meaning “and our store and menus reflect that.”
White Crab serves two coffees roasted by a small-batch, family-owned business in New York, where Emma lived for a time.
“Emma would constantly rave about this coffee, and once I tasted it, we wanted it for the store,” says Jen, whose background includes both retail and teaching.
The Dalton family settled on two signature roasts — South End and Beach House. When the store was just an idea, they bought a coffee machine for home, began to experiment with coffee and tea drinks, and after a few trials, the menus were created.
White Crab’s coffee menu features traditional brewed coffees, lattes and cappuccinos as well as choices in milks, syrups and special concoctions like S’Mores, Happy Birthday with sprinkles and whipped cream, and the Favorite Daughter, a blend of brown sugar, cinnamon and honey.
The family continued to experiment through the summer, upping their smoothies and baked items and posting favorites to Facebook and Instagram. Mike and Ellie served as master taste testers, Jen adds.
“You’ll recognize the ingredients in everything, nothing added, no chemicals,” Jen says. “It’s all homemade with real ingredients.”
All summer long, Grace curated social media posts that teased out offerings like s’mores cookies, a crab sugar cookie, Toptarts (their take on the breakfast favorite, available in strawberry and brown sugar) and NC blueberry muffins, a nod to both Minnesota where blueberry is the official state muffin and North Carolina by using North Carolina grown blueberries.
On one window of White Crab Coffee and Books are the words coffee, crumbs, and beach reads; the other says thanks for shopping local. Inside the treasures await. With the support of her family, Jen’s dream became a reality.
COFFEE. CRUMBS. BEACH READS
White Crab Coffee and Books
708 S. Anderson Boulevard, Topsail Beach
whitecrabcoffeeandbooks.com
