Novel, the bookstore that is opening in August in Memphis, Tenn., in the location of the shuttered Booksellers at Laurelwood, will have a restaurant called Libro, which will be owned and operated by the family that runs Ecco restaurant in Midtown and Fratelli's Café at the Memphis Botanic Garden, the Commercial Appeal reported.
Libro will take up about 3,100 square feet of space, and the bookstore will have 10,000 square feet in the Laurelwood Shopping Center. Booksellers at Laurelwood, which closed in February, occupied 25,000 square feet of space, which owner Neil Van Uum said was too large. A group of investors organized and is opening Novel on the same site, but in a smaller version.
Sabine Bachmann, who will own Libro with her sons Armando Gigliano and John-Paul Gagliano, said, "We're trying to see what the market demands. We're going to do a little breakfast, a nice lunch and some really nice desserts and even a coffee and wine and champagne bar. And also in the early afternoon we'll serve some small plates. And we'll have some dinner items.''