A fireplace, a café, live concerts and readings all contribute to the ambience of a popular downtown Grand Rapids bookstore, and if everything goes right patrons will soon be able to browse, read and relax with an adult beverage in hand.
According to excerpts from the story:
Bill and Cecile Fehsenfeld opened their first Schuler Books store in Grand Rapids in 1982, and, as the city has changed, so has their retail mix.
Schuler Books & Music today has four locations -- three in the Grand Rapids area and one in Okemos, billed as five minutes from Michigan State University. The newest is in downtown Grand Rapids. All of them have fireplaces and cafes and are designed as comfortable places to hang out, Bill Fehsenfeld said.
The downtown store may get a liquor license in two to three months, and that innovation may solve the problem all downtown small businesses have -- slow evening and weekend business.
"The vision is it's an enhancement to the bookstore and our cafe and provides an alternate place where people can relax, browse the books and enjoy food from our cafe," Fehsenfeld said. "We're feeling this will be able to maybe lengthen our hours into the evening more."
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