I just got back from Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I was amazed to find the Wordsworth bookstore almost bankrupt. I used to go to this store regularly, because they had a top-notch collection of books in every category–and at a discount. They had a sign up saying they were desperately seeking investors, and blamed their problems reasonably enough on online booksellers. (Tim O’Reilly has touched on this in his article
Buy Where You Shop.)
Being in the store today itself was so depressing, I don’t want to go back. They used to have two floors teeming with books; now they have one floor and much of the space on each shelf is taken up by a single face-out book. One rack contains little except O’Reilly catalogs.
In the 1970s, my father retired from his retail business (which included books), complaining that an independent seller couldn’t make it anymore. Some new chains had recently entered the book market, disrupting the business by offering a 15% discount on bestsellers.
Then Wordsworth opened in Harvard Square, shocking everybody by offering a discount on every book in the store. Their selection was also comparable to other stores.
Over the next decade, the book business in Harvard Square shriveled up, just like everywhere else. A lot of delightful stores with specialized selections disappeared. Wordsworth is one of three remaining bookstores in the area. But I was at Wordsworth fairly recently and it looked as if it was thriving.
As the ancient rabbi Hillel said, upon seeing a skull in the river, “You drowned others, so now you are drowned.”
Who will drown the online booksellers?
Newcomer on the way, though
Hi Andy,
Wordsworth closing is indeed a loss for the Cambridge community. I've shopped there often and if they do close, I'll miss them.
However, there's a new indie store on the way. Construction is under way in Porter Square:
http://news.bookweb.org/m-bin/printer_friendly?article_id=2718
This is great for me, as I live in Porter and it sounds like a venture that just might work.
Also, don't forget that Harvard Bookstore is still right down the street. They're also the store that usually fulfills my booksense (http://www.booksense.com) requests.
In general though, the decline of Harvard Square is a huge disappointment. I'm still getting over the loss of the Tasty, and now this. I expect that it's only a matter of time before Au Bon Pain evicts the chess players out front and Charlie's kitchen closes down.
--Phil
Alas, poor Wordsworth! I knew him, Andy
When I lived in Cambridge, I bought all my books from Wordsworths. (Well, except for the computer books I bought from Quantum, of course.) It was a great store.
I came up with my first O'Reilly book proposal walking home to Central Square after a late night browsing session one cold winter night. It must have been something in the air.
-adam
Alas, poor Wordsworth! I knew him, Andy
Every time I passed by Quantum Books in Kendall Square (2x a day for a year going to/from work) I felt guilt-rays emanating from the store saying "Finish PHP Cookbook! Finish PHP Cookbook!"
Another benefit that independent bookstores provide. :)