Help Davis Get a Bookstore!

[elfword.livejournal.com]

Davis Square hasn't had a bookstore since McIntyre & Moore moved out almost a year ago. I and a group of others are sharing ideas, connections, and effort to try and bring a bookstore to Davis Square.

If you're a fellow book-lover that'd like to see an indie bookstore (with a sizable used books section) make its home in Davis, you should come to our first meetup, this upcoming Monday (3/22) at 7:00 PM, in Blue Shirt Cafe. We'll have a sign on a table or two announcing who we are.

For more info, or to show someone you think would be interested, please check out: http://bit.ly/davisbookstore

As the site says, two of our top priorities are:

1. Finding a bookstore starter (someone that can open a bookstore, a current bookstore owner that wants to expand or move, or a chain) and convincing them.
2. Helping a bookstore starter get the resources they need to open a bookstore (capital, location, inventory).

If you have any ideas about either of these, please comment!

Comments

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

Good idea for whom, though? I've been here 17 year, and I've seen quite a few bookstores close. It's not an easy business to be in. Starting from MIT, there was Quantum Books, then up Mass Ave there was a place by the YMCA, and two other used bookstores near Schernoffs, and another place between Harvard and Porter. Then we got the rents forcing M&M and Pandemonium to move. And in Medford Square, Bestsellers had to close when their building needed repair. The only big openings I've seen are Rodney's and Lorem Ipsum, and they both are here only because they were among the first whofigured out how to do online sales.

Would you bet your own money investing in a bookstore in Davis?

A better idea would be to see if the Diesel will do something truly local and indie, which would be to let the aspiring writers around here sell their zines and reviews on consignment, the way the 1369 is trying right now with the Inman Review.

[ron_newman]

Raven Used Books (in Harvard Square) is opening a second store on upper Newbury Street -- not far from where Avenue Victor Hugo Books used to be.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

I miss Avenue Victor Hugo terribly...spent so much time there in the mid/late 90s that I can still remember exactly where in its various rooms I had to look to see if they'd gotten anything by my various favorite authors. :(

[marphod.livejournal.com]

Don't forget Wordsworth in Harvard Square. I mourn every time I walk by their former (and mostly still empty) space.

There have also been a lot of closings of rare/specialty book dealers in Harvard.

(OTOH, as I understand it, rent was only part of the reason that Pandemonium moved.)