Owners: Rox & Chuck Osborne

Founded: 2017

You never know what you’ll find in Geneva: a store with 28 different rooms or an award winning chocolaterie with a 1,000 pound chocolate tree drooping over the kitchen table where you can enjoy a homemade gelato. And if you happen to be just passing through, you might need to account for a few more hours…

Harvey’s Tales is deceiving, you might even pass it without recognizing it is a bookstore. It appears as a normal house, and it is one! The building itself is a converted home, with all the rooms and nooks and crannies (even a section under the stairs!) You can’t miss the bright magenta door and the big Bernese Mountain dog smiling at you from above. The place itself is just as charming and inviting as a home, and you immediately feel welcome. There is even an amazing young duo of musicians playing the cello and piano in the “living room” area, next to the Kitchen where you can enjoy a coffee and biscuit (for people or dogs!)

The place is buzzing, with people walking in and out of all the different rooms, finding new book sections to explore. It was wildly fun to pry around all the different corners of the house, with rich discoveries everywhere. And Harvey’s Tales isn’t just for dog-lovers, there is plenty of cat apparel too…

THE STORY

The Osborne’s opened the store in 2017, after Chuck retired from teaching science at Lehman Middle School and Rox was also on the way to retirement. They both are avid readers and craved something for their retirement years that would keep them active in the community. Hence began their their dream to open an independent bookstore in the beautiful space of downtown Geneva. As you might have guessed, Chuck and Rox Osborne had a Bernese Mountain dog named Harvey. Although they opened the store before Harvey passed, they named the store after him as a memorial. They now have a Berner puppy named Hazel!

NOTABLE SECTIONS

Harvey’s Tales is unique in that it functions as much more than just a bookstore. The Osborne’s have transformed their store into a community space with a cafe, patio, free wifi, meeting rooms, puzzles, and wall scrabble games.

There is an inspiring and uplifting atmosphere, a place to read, eat, catch up with friends, and even listen to live music.

With all new titles, they have every genre you could wish for, from fantasy, graphic novels, essays, poetry, to gardening. And the large space allows ample room for each section (sometimes a whole room for one section!)

CAFES & RESTAURANTS NEAR BY

All Chocolate Cafe is a decadent masterpiece, with pure chocolate astronaut and dinosaur sculptures inviting you in. They have excellent homemade gelato.

Used Books: ✕

Rare Books: ✕

Cafe: ✓

Wifi: ✓

Pets: ✓

Website: https://harveystales.com/our-story/

Social: @harveystales