Westerly bookstore fills void

TURNING THE PAGE: Annie Philbrick, center, confers with Mark Hind of Peter Zuerner Design, left, and Rob Richins of general contractor Hammond Housecraft, in March, during the transformation of the former Savoy Hotel in Westerly into a bookstore. / PBN PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD
TURNING THE PAGE: Annie Philbrick, center, confers with Mark Hind of Peter Zuerner Design, left, and Rob Richins of general contractor Hammond Housecraft, in March, during the transformation of the former Savoy Hotel in Westerly into a bookstore. / PBN PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD

With the help of affluent investors, Savoy Bookstore and Café has filled what some considered a void in Westerly since opening in the spring.

Annie Philbrick, a partner of Mystic Books Inc. in Connecticut, is running the new bookstore, which spans two floors and 3,000 square feet within the old Savoy Hotel. The establishment, also host to a small café, was made possible because of the building’s owner and financier, Charles Royce, and his son-in-law, Daniel King.

Philbrick says Royce, whose other projects include the Ocean House and the Weekapaug Inn, approached her last year saying the town really needed a bookstore and offered to renovate the building at no cost to Philbrick, if she would come run it.

“I said, ‘OK,’ ” Philbrick said, with a laugh. “I believe in bookstores, and I totally agree that Westerly needs a bookstore.”

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“People really understand what it means to shop locally on Main Streets everywhere,” Philbrick added. “They realize they want their community to exist and they need to strive to support it.” •

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