River Bend Bookshop in West Hartford, Conn., had its "soft reopening" Tuesday at the new location on 224 Park Road, not far from its previous space. River Bend also operates a store in Glastonbury. The official grand opening for the new store is scheduled for this coming Saturday, March 28.
Store manager Lauren Gauthier told FOX61: "We are very community based and now, since we've moved from our old location, we're next to A.C. Petersen and Playhouse on Park. We have collaborations with them. We do mahjong classes here, we do craft nights, so our community is what we thrive on, and they thrive on us, and it's a really great partnership." Gauthier said what makes the shop special is its partnerships and events.
Bookseller Jess Serrano said recommending books to customers is her favorite part of the job: "I especially love when somebody's coming in looking for a book for somebody else. Those are my favorite kind of sales and my favorite sort of customer interactions."
Gauthier agreed: "We get compliments on our recommendations. We have our staff picks that we offer because we're friendly and love to talk for hours about books. If you want to come talk about it with us, we're your guys."