Tatnuck voted 'Best Bookstore' second year in a row
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Sales associate Natasha Carmody is one of the many reasons Tatnuck Bookseller, Gift Gallery and Café was awarded "Worcester Magazine's" Best of Worcester 2008 choice for Best Bookstore for the second consecutive year. PHOTO/KEN POWERS

Westborough - In an age of chains and superstores, with independent bookstores closing all around them, the brain trust at Tatnuck Bookseller, located in the Westborough Shopping Center at the intersection of Route 9 and Lyman Street, came up with an idea that can only be described - in bookstore parlance - as a bestseller.

"We decided to diversify the mix," Tatnuck General Manager Charlie Napolean said. "We decided to give people more reasons to come here: to buy gifts, get a coff ee, have lunch, visit the children's section, and, of course, to buy books. We orchestrated a makeover of sorts, turning Tatnuck Bookseller into Tatnuck Bookseller, Gift Gallery and Café. We made it the shopping equivalent of a destination location."

And people have noticed. For the second year in a row, Tatnuck Bookseller, Gift Gallery and Café has been voted the top bookstore in central Massachusetts by the readers of "Worcester Magazine." Napolean was notified of the honor a couple of weeks ago.

"It's a great honor; we're very pleased," Napolean said. "We were thrilled last year and to win the honor again this year is just a statement to us that this is the type of place people want."

The type of place Napolean refers to is a place where visitors can take a breath and sit and relax, out of the hubbub that is daily life. At Tatnuck, they can do that by sitting in any of a number of quiet areas that are equipped with couches and chairs.

"We've tried to create an escape for folks," Napolean said. "Give them a place they can sit and relax and get out of the rat race. A place they can buy a birthday card, read a magazine, listen to an author talk about a book they've written. A place where families can come and buy teachers gifts and have lunch and visit the children's area and just hang out."

The transformation from satellite store of the former Tatnuck Bookseller in Worcester hasn't taken overnight, it just seems that way.

"We realized to compete, we had to give people something different than what the big chain bookstores gave them," Napolean said. "We realized we had to create and adopt a diff erent philosophy. Market studies show very clearly that the more reasons you give people to come to your store, the more people will come, both in numbers and frequency."

Something perceived by some at one time to be a detriment to Tatnuck - the size of the store - has become a huge asset.

Housed in what used to be a Julio's Supermarket, Tatnuck, unlike many of its independent brethren, has had the room to become the shopping version of a destination location. Other stores that would like to provide multiple reasons to visit simply can't because of space limitations.

"That has been a huge plus," Napolean said. "Having the room to add all the things we've added has helped, but it's also knowing what people want and listening to suggestions. To succeed in a retail business in today's climate you have to be willing to continually evolve. I think we are and we do."

The people in and around Westborough must think so, too.