Take Cover Books, an independent seller of new books, opened a store on Hunter Street East in Peterborough’s East City on Aug. 9. Take Cover Books opened as an online store in September 2022, but, earlier this year, owners Andrew and Sean Fitzpatrick realized they needed to expand.

Trent Radio visited Take Cover’s new location to speak with owner Andrew at the end of their first day.

“In the spring we got to a spot where we felt like we had to expand a bit, and that people were asking for a place to actually browse,” says Andrew. “We maxed out my home. All of our stock was in the office that I used to use for music – which became a temporary bookstore.”

Owners Andrew and Sean are brothers and were working as musicians before opening Take Cover Books.

“Over the pandemic, we weren’t playing shows and the music scene was a little difficult to find,” says Andrew.

After identifying a need for a change in careers, the brothers decided to use their shared love of books and collecting to open a book store.

Now that Take Cover Books has a physical store, the owners are excited to interact with their customers and their community in new ways. They used to deliver books, which were ordered online, on a bicycle and leave the package in a mailbox or on a porch – rarely interacting with customers face-to-face.

“Now, we actually get to talk to people and have more of a relationship.”

To best explore the new relationships with the community, the owners plan to use the space as more than just a book store. In addition to the Take Cover Reading Club, their book club which has already been meeting online, they are planning to host author events, and organize a film-club.

To Andrew, it is these personal connections with the community that separate smaller, independent, bookstores from the larger online bookstores which dominate the market.

“Human connection is the most important thing about stores like this – and that’s why indies actually do pretty well.”

Take Cover Books is open at their Hunter Street E location Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., as well as continuing to offer online services on their website.

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