The Next Chapters Bookhouse & Cafe opened Sept. 3 at 218 River Road in Unionville, and it's the work of two lifelong Farmington residents: Lana Van Valkenburgh, who handles the books, and Paul Stepka, a real estate professional who found them the space — an old post-and-beam mill building on the Farmington River, with the shop on the second floor and a wall of windows over the water. The shelves are used books, inspected and priced by condition, with a hard ceiling at $14 except for a few collector's items. The cafe side pours coffee roasted by Unionville's own Daily Grind, plus tea, Hosmer Mountain Soda, pastries, and bagels.
The rest of the model is programming: author visits, a book club, room rentals for small gatherings, and a vendor space where local makers sell jewelry, candles, and crafts. Hours run Wednesday through Sunday. One honest caveat the owners post themselves — the space is stairs-only for now, with take-down service offered and a plan to add accessibility later.
There are two lessons in how this one is built. First, the pricing: a $14 ceiling is a deliberate trade — thinner margin per sale, but a price most customers don't think twice about, which matters when used books are one of the few retail categories growing right now. Second, the coffee isn't a side hustle, it's a supply chain in the neighborhood: sourcing beans from the Daily Grind two doors over turns two small businesses into one destination. For a town like Farmington, a second-floor startup in a mill building is exactly the kind of tenant that makes a village district hum — low footprint, high reason-to-visit.