"I was very into the idea of making things my own," said Giuseppe Gentile, owner of The Biblio-Tech Cafe in Perry, N.Y. Earlier this year, Gentile purchased the 12-year-old independent bookstore Burlingham Books and reopened it as the Biblio-Tech Cafe in June. "I wanted to give it a new coat of paint, a new name, just make it my own."
The roughly 2,500-square-foot bookstore and cafe sells new and used books, with around half the space devoted to children's books and toys. Gentile, who managed Burlingham Books for 11 years before buying the store, said that compared to its predecessor, Biblio-Tech Cafe has a less wide-ranging selection of books but a much more curated one, with a stronger emphasis on new titles.
Since taking over the store, Gentile has expanded the selection of children's books and especially children's toys. Toys and games sell "extremely well year-round," he said, and because he has small children of his own, it seemed like a natural fit. He also described himself as a "giant kid who likes toys." Gentile reported that Biblio-Tech Cafe is the largest seller of Melissa & Doug toys in the county, and the store is now an official Lego retailer. He's brought in LOL Surprise Dolls, which he said his daughter was "really into," along with classic Hasbro toys and board games. "For years at Burlingham, tourists would come in and ask if we have Monopoly, Jenga," Gentile recalled. "Now I can finally say yes."
Gentile has expanded the cafe. In addition to coffee, tea, Italian sodas and smoothies, the store now serves a variety of baked goods from a nearby restaurant called Hole in the Wall. The baked goods, Gentile reported, are extremely popular, and often sold out before noon. He's also added some gluten-free and vegan options and put in more comfortable seating.
In keeping with the "tech" part of the new store name, Gentile carries a small selection of electronics and accessories, including charging cables, screen protectors, USB drives and other odds and ends. He compared the electronics inventory with a "small scale" RadioShack and said he stocks the kind of stuff that no one wants to drive 30 minutes for. Biblio-Tech Cafe also offers tech support; Gentile said that he mostly does software support, but on a limited basis will do some hardware repair as well.
Gentile intends to keep working with local elementary schools for book fairs and to continue bringing in authors, but he also has ambitious plans for nonbook events. He wants to begin hosting birthday parties at the store and is working with a local pizzeria to come up with a special birthday party menu for the cafe. He hopes to bring in a projector and host viewing parties for things like the final season of Game of Thrones, and have Lego parties for children. He'd like to work with local schools to host chess club meetings as well as Raspberry Pi workshops. And while he hasn't ironed out all of the details yet, Gentile wants to do something with the local chapter of the 501st Legion, a nationwide group of Star Wars cosplayers who dress in motion-picture quality Stormtrooper costumes.
In the span of about five months, Gentile went from being the manager of Burlingham Books to owner of the Biblio-Tech Cafe. The renovations took only about five weeks after the previous store's owner moved out, and Gentile credited the quick turnaround to his penchant for being a meticulous planner. "We hit the ground running," Gentile said. "We only had a couple of minor delays that we were able to adapt to."
Two former Burlingham Books employees, a full-timer and a part-timer, have stayed on to work at Biblio-Tech Cafe. While Gentile and the other former Burlingham employees do a little bit of everything, he explained, he's hired one more part-timer who exclusively does receiving and shelving.
Gentile reported that the community's response to the new store has been "fantastic." "Everybody's really excited about it," he added. "It's been really, really great." --Alex Mutter