New Watertown bookstore fills the city’s need to read

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - It’s a new chapter for The Little Bookstore. The Clayton shop has a new location in Watertown.

The expansion is a dream come true.

“I had a dream November 2nd. I woke up in the middle of the night. The dream was that there was a bookstore in this Washington Street Plaza, and it said The Little Bookstore,” said Michael Kinnie, who came up with the expansion idea.

The next day, Kinnie looked to see if there were any store vacancies. Sure enough, there was! He shared the idea with his wife, Rebecca Kinnie, who owns The Little Bookstore. Three weeks later, the doors and books were opening up.

“The neat thing about a local bookstore is you have a lot of local artists, there’s that local flavor,” he said.

There hasn’t been a new bookstore in the city for years. Kinnie says he wanted to fill that need.

“Growing up, there was always a bookstore in Watertown and bookstores are so great for a community. They’re important to a community,” he said. “It’s filled with knowledge, right? All these people and all their ideas. It just makes you smarter walking in a bookstore.”

Kinnie has high hopes for the future of the store. He envisions local author signings, writing workshops and stacks and stacks of books.

For now, his first chapter is a grand opening Sunday.

There will be a jazz band from 2 to 4 p.m. and Santa Claus will be there from 1 to 3.

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