If you give a former reading teacher a bookstore, she’s going to be living her dream.
When Julie Garrenton and her husband, Mark, moved to Gloucester, it was with the understanding that if there wasn’t a bookstore there, she’d make sure there was. Turns out Gloucester had one, The Nook, which had been open for less than a year.
Garrenton wasted no time in meeting the owner, explaining that if she ever wanted to sell, she was in the market to buy. “Then she contacted me in January saying her family was relocating and asking if I was still interested,” Garrenton says. “Two weeks later, in the middle of that big ice storm, we owned it.”
Sera Petras Photography
Colorful stone blocks painted to resemble children’s books dot the tiny front yard, a carryover from the former owner. Cosmetic changes to the interior space were minimal, with the cheery, low-ceilinged green and orange children’s area upstairs untouched beyond the addition of wall games and a popular 3D tic-tac-toe board. Downstairs, a simple coat of paint was added to complement the plants and macrame hangings Garrenton used to put her own stamp on the cozy space.
The existing inventory was mainly fantasy, romantasy and thrillers. A fan of literary fiction, a more character-driven genre, she created a “Julie’s Recommendations” section to highlight books she especially loved reading. “Although 90% of my customers are women, I’m also beefing up books that appeal to men. I ask the men who do come in what they like, and I’ve been adding more nonfiction and crime thrillers every week,” she says. “I want everyone who walks in to find something they’d enjoy reading.”
Anyone strolling down Main Street who stops by The Nook is likely to find something to entice them. A window ledge holds a display of local authors’ books. A table with a sign saying “The book is always better than the movie!” is surrounded by titles that prove it, from “Hail Mary” to “Reminders of Him” to “Remarkably Bright Creatures.” Fans of dark romance—think trigger-heavy content—will find a shelf devoted to the distinctive genre.
Conversations with customers about what they read are one of Garrenton’s favorite parts of her job. When a man comes in and heads to the nonfiction shelves and doesn’t find the science nonfiction he prefers, she promptly orders some. Her second favorite part of ownership is having a reason to buy books without justification. “Customers want my recommendations and I want theirs because I don’t just buy best sellers,” she says of ordering anything customers want. “There’s just something personal about independent bookstores.”
One of the most popular shelves is labeled “Blind Date with a Book.” An array of books is stylishly wrapped to hold treats like chocolate, candies and specialty coffee single servings. The wrappers have clues from “Historical fiction, quiet heroine, raw and heart-wrenching” to “Mystery, fast-paced, shocking finale” that tease the contents. They’re popular as gifts and can be returned if the person has already read them.
Sera Petras Photography
At The Nook in Gloucester, the entire upstairs is devoted to children, creating a welcoming space filled with books, toys, and treasures for young readers to explore. There’s even comfortable seating for parents to relax while their kids browse and discover all the goodies waiting upstairs.
Garrenton’s reading teacher background meant she also expanded the children’s books area upstairs, adding more picture books, board books and beginner reader books. Naturally, the classics are there—“Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,” “Goodnight, Moon,” “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”—along with “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” himself, who hangs from the ceiling. But there are also easy readers for kids in kindergarten through second grade. The section is especially popular with local grandparents.
The middle school section for grades six to eight shows just as much range, everything from popular fantasy titles to the Hardy Boys series—first published in 1927—to contemporary-sounding titles such as “Confessions from the Group Chat.” In addition to popular titles like the Captain Underpants series, the section for grades three to five has a wide selection of graphic novels. “As a fifth-grade reading teacher, I learned that they’re perfect for getting nonreaders into reading,” Garrenton says.
Sera Petras Photography
“Customers want my recommendations and I want theirs because I don’t just buy best sellers,” Garrenton says of ordering anything customers want. “There’s just something personal about independent bookstores.”
– Julie Garrenton
The Nook’s every other week programming includes book clubs, poetry slams, open mic nights, author readings and signings, plus workshops such as the one where the colorful book cover stones out front were created. Plans are in the works to add a coffee bar with easy chairs and a community puzzle table to encourage lingering. “Independent bookstores should be social hubs, bringing people together for all kinds of reasons, whether they buy a book or not,” she says.
Currently the store carries some related merchandise such as book lights, tote bags, mugs, puzzles, stuffies and squishies, but in five years, she expects to be in a bigger location with an even wider array of stationery, greeting cards and other things known to appeal to book lovers. And books, even more books.
The way Garrenton sees it, there’s been a resurgence in people wanting to read books, rather than their Kindles. It seems reading has become hip. “Look how people post their TBR [to be read] stacks online,” says the woman who always wanted to own a bookstore. “It’s now cool to be a reader.”
The Nook I 6616 Main Street, Gloucester I 804-699-3170 I Find The Nook on Facebook.
