In 2002, Nicole Magistro had just moved to the Vail Valley and became a part-time employee at The Bookworm. It was in 2005 that she bought Westover\u2019s share of the business and became co-owner. Rapidly growing out of the new space, Magistro and Jansen decided they needed to expand.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 10 years as a tiny bookstore, we felt that we needed to be at top of mind to our customers,\u201d Magistro said. \u201cThey needed good reason to visit us weekly \u2014 or even daily \u2014 rather than monthly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was 2007, and we\u2019d been in business 10 years, but Amazon seemed to be solving the world\u2019s problems, and we saw a lot of colleagues closing up shop. I was in my 20s then and knew that it was critical not just to stay relevant, but to become indispensable to our community before it was too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was then Magistro partnered with Kristi Allio, manager of Eat! Drink!, and started to discuss adding a cafe to The Bookworm. Allio bought Jansen\u2019s share of The Bookworm and construction began in February 2007.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted a place to go and meet that wasn\u2019t a bar, and a 14-seat coffee shop seemed manageable,\u201d Magistro said.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the new cafe was an immediate success and exceeded The Bookworm staff\u2019s expectations and preparations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought we needed about eight staff people to get through the week. Boy did we underestimate,\u201d Magistro said. \u201cWe started with coffee and crepes, what we thought would be a limited menu. Our customers loved the concept, and before too long, people couldn\u2019t get a seat. Then we expanded onto the patio and eventually took on another space so we could enlarge the cafe and create a children\u2019s department that families would enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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