Beer, Board Games, and Books — A New Breed Of Indie Bookstore Rises In Hudson Valley | Bookstores - Rockland County Business Journal

What pairs well with Counter Culture espresso, Industrial Arts Metric draft beer, or pie from Down Under Bakery? Books. Lots of them, according to Tina Traster, Editor & Publisher at Rockland County Business Journal.

Photo: Rough draft bar and bookstore

It’s the last day of 2019 and Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston is swarming with activity. Some are browsing the bookshelves; others are sitting at the long bar nursing a brew or a coffee. There’s a small group gathered on a couch plotting efforts to help Andrew Wang become the next president.

Two patrons are introducing their leashed dogs to one another. The scene is a delight to hipsters and bibliophiles alike. It would make Meg Ryan’s character in You’ve Got Mail twirl and smile an ironic, retro smile – as in everything that’s old is new again.

Independent bookstores are popping up in the Hudson Valley – but they are much more than simply bookstores. They are hybrid of bars, cideries, wineries, coffee houses, event spaces, bakeries, and more. In essence, the latest iteration of the indie bookstore is Cheers meets Central Perk meets Ted Talks. The 21^st century book store is striving to be the kind of community hub that Starbucks or Barnes & Noble fails to be, and the nexus of connection that it once was.

Along with Rough Draft, the Hudson Valley roster is growing. Barking Goose Bookstore Bar and Café in Newburgh, which opened last year, serves craft brews, wine, cider, coffee and small bites like chili, sliders, and tacos. Barking Goose hosts weekly trivia nights, book discussions, game nights and other community events...

Even ebooks, often touted as the death kiss to physical books, are becoming less popular and giving way to printed books.
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Source: Rockland County Business Journal