Root & Press, a café and bookshop, Worcester, Mass., which announced in October that it would be moving from its Chandler St. location to a new space at 156 Shrewsbury St., has reopened, the Worcester Guardian reported.
While co-owners Rich Collins and Nicole Cote liked the coziness of the original location, they wanted to keep that feel but expand to a space where people could reliably get a table to study, read, and eat. "We were never going to be able to continue in our old spot... we were suffocating," Collins said.
The Shrewsbury space has multiple rooms and is nearly four times the size of the Tatnuck Square store, including a storage area in the basement. The expansion "allowed the couple to more than double their inventory of books and add additional gift items for sale," the Guardian noted, adding that it has "also allowed the cafe to expand its menu."
The new location had its soft opening last Wednesday. "We just wanted to make sure everything worked and we weren't setting ourselves back before we welcomed people in," said Collins.
The co-owners wanted to enhance the bookstore aspect of their business, including the addition of a new kids' room, when they moved because Collins believes bookstores are "terribly important for neighborhoods.... I think it's important for people to keep reading books. I think it helps kids for sure but it strengthens even adult minds."
In a Facebook update posted Sunday, Root & Press wrote: "We are beyond grateful for all the kind words and support from everyone Wednesday to Saturday. It felt great to be welcomed by some many to a new neighborhood. We know we have some things to work on so if your food, drinks, or service were a little off, please know we are attempting to address our issues ASAP. We were very busy at times in a brand new space--we will keep trying to get better and better! Thank you again!"