When Falling Rock Cafe & Bookstore, Munising, Mich., opened in 2003, owners Jeff and Nancy Dwyer "were interested in the idea of a bookstore, but with the changing economy of book sales, they knew they would need an additional element," ABC-10 reported.
"Originally, we rented out space to someone else who provided food, and then after a while they chose not to do that, and we decided to make that a part of our operation," Jeff said. "And really now the concept is, the food, the ice cream, the coffee, is what brings people in the door, and then the books and the local art and the other things we have available are something they can enjoy while they're here."
"The people that come in regularly are like family," Nancy added.
Jeff agreed: "We've had people refer to it as Munising's living room.... We had a young man tell his grandmother he wanted to go for ice cream at the place where the chairs don't match, and so we really feel like this has become the kind of place and really fulfilling Nancy's vision that people are comfortable here, people are family here, and once they come in and become a part of it then they're friends for life."
