Delia Cabe, author of today’s Spotlight on Bookstores tells me she has “a typical freelance writer’s life, writing to earn a living–with two cats supervising my work–while trying to find time for writing projects that are closest to my heart, i.e., a book project. “ Her blog Girls Sent Away, consists of bits and pieces of a memoir in progress, about growing up in the sixties as the daughter of a single mother in Manhattan and being sent to boarding school at age 6. In addition to Girls Sent Away, Delia maintains two other blogs: Vine Designs, a gallery of fun wine labels, and Cafe Delia, which is more eclectic. She also teaches magazine writing at a college, and writes for national magazines about health and fitness, most recently for Self and Prevention. Also write on other topics
Read on for her Spotlight piece, which she has titled “A Sad Farewell.” It is a eulogy to a beloved local bookstore, set to close after the New Year.
I learned of Charlesbanks Books impending closing from two little girls standing outside the store. One of them handed me a flyer they had made: “Save our bookstore one person at a time” was written in their neatest handwriting. They had taken their Saturday morning to enlist others to prevent the bookstore from shutting its doors. “I love books,” one of the girls told me. “All kinds of books.”
I do too. I’ve had a lifetime relationship with books. I’ve lived here for 20 years and was so pleased that my little town had a bookstore. But this news broke my heart. My town would have a big hole. I joined the Facebook group, “Save the Belmont Center Book Store” and scanned its members, many of whom are high school students. Posted on the wall:
“oh noooo, now where am i supposed to go to get my books the night before i need them?
”
“THEY CAN’T DO THIS.”
“They” is Barnes & Noble, owner of the shop after a series of sales, mergers and acquisitions. The bookstore was never a Barnes & Noble mega-store, and that’s its appeal. The store is like a neighborhood bookstore because it began as one. When I moved to Belmont, the store was occupied by Reading International, a general bookstore, which back then also had a store on the corner of Church and Brattle in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass. The owner, Sheldon Cohen, was behind the iconic Out of Town News kiosk at the entrance of the Harvard Square subway stop as well. In the 1990s, I noticed that the inventory at Reading International was getting thinner. Fewer books were available to the town’s avid readers. I often wondered why the store didn’t do more to attract shoppers. Soon, there was no reason to buy books there. The end was obviously near.
Along came Charlesbank Books, another area indie bookseller, and rescued the store. I was thrilled. The place was reinvigorated. It felt like a bookstore—helpful sales clerks, tables of the latest novels, thrillers, bios, shelves of classics, the latest magazines and a wonderful children’s section. The place bustled. Toddlers would scamper in, head straight to the back of the store and flop on the floor with picture books. Adults scoured the aisles, occasionally sitting in a chair to test-run a book. The clerks wandered the store, chatting with customers, arranging books and ringing up sales at the front. The store was never a destination for author tours, but that was fine with me.
Around 1994, the national chain B. Dalton took over, and a few years later, the store was absorbed by Barnes & Noble, when it acquired B. Dalton. I had worried about what a large chain would do to my neighborhood indie, and the answer was, “not too much.” Sure, there was the logo, the club membership, and the B&N tchotchkes. And sure, there was a slight change in the breadth and scope of books available: best sellers and fewer classics. But I could live with that, as long as I had my bookstore. It fit perfectly with the town center’s easy-going feel.
As word spread, town residents were upset enough to ask their State Representative, Will Brownsberger, to see if he could convince Barnes & Noble to take this beloved bookstore off its list of closures. He spoke with Mitchell Clipper, the chain’s chief operating officer, to no avail. The decision is firm. The store was losing money, Clipper said, but did not reveal to Brownsberger how much. “It’s over,” Clipper said. (Here’s the text of Brownsberger’s piece)
Our town has been home to several well known authors. Among them Sebastian Junger, who grew up here, Frances Moore Lappe, who moved here in 2004, and Leah Hager Cohen. Novelist Tom Perrotta, also a resident, told me in an e-mail: “I live within walking distance of Belmont Center, and have loved having the bookstore there. It always seems to be like one of the absolute minimum requirements for a good town center. You need a coffee shop, a good pizzeria, and a bookstore. Pretty soon Belmont will be missing one leg of the tripod.”
On January 16, Charlesbank Books will close its doors. Before Thanksgiving, signs were posted all over the store. Everything is now 20 percent off. The staff may be offered transfers to much larger Barnes & Noble stores in the area. Customers stop by to purchase some books and express their condolences to the clerks. I keep hoping some other local indie could step in. That would make a wonderful beginning to the New Year.
Oh, this just makes me want to cry. I hate seeing small independent stores of any description shut down – we just recently lost the sweetest little organic foods store, which has been around as long as I can remember.
That is heartbreaking. I don’t hate Barnes & Noble, and I know they make their decisions on a macro level, but this is what is wrong with conglomerates. I pray that someone will swoop in and save this little treasure.
I’m sorry to see the store closing. It’s always sad to see a nice neighborhood bookstore close. I’ve shopped there many times and always enjoyed it.
Cute little store! It’s laid out a bit like my local Waldenbooks though.
It’s so disheartening to see a bookstore close. I am especially touched by that flyer. Even though I live in Los Angeles County, we have no indies near me. We have a Barnes and Noble and a Borders and both are alright, but can’t compare to a cozy neighborhood bookstore. If I won the lottery I’d open my own.
This is a heartbreaking Spotlight, Dawn. I hope something happens to save that wonderful store.
All too often we don’t think of the consequences of our choices until its too late. Small independent shops like this are a wealth of knowlege and wonder and really can’t be replaced by the ‘New’ kind of book shop which is more like a supermarket.
We all like to save a dollar where we can but by shifting our spending to the major chains we inadvertantly deny the small independents the life blood they need to survive.
I have always been prepared to pay a dollar or two more for what I want provided it comes with good friendly service and the peace of mind I get knowing that the store has the knowledge and desire to help me should I need it.
That just makes me heartsick. There is nothing better than a little neighborhood bookstore. I choose them over the ‘big box’ stores every time. This is happening more and more…and from my chair the only way it will end is if us book lovers refuse to buy from the big flashy places and support our local little book nooks. Cheers for the little girls and their flyers! They’re trying, bless their hearts.
This is so sad and one of the reasons why when I travel I now make time to visit the local indie bookstores so I can feature something about them on my blog. I always hope that someone will go to them after reading about them and buy a book, or tw, or three… Unfortunately this story is one that is happening all too often these days! Here’s hoping that they will be saved from the brink by some miracle!
This is sad! Why close a bookstore that is beloved by all. What ever happened to probationary periods…maybe they could have one quarter of probation to lift sales and generate revenue. Maybe someone should offer to buy the bookstore from B&N…maybe after its closed an entrepreneur can step into the space and start again. The community that loves its bookstore will find away.
I love that the kids are campaigning to save the store.
It is sad that Belmont is losing its chain.
I applaud the efforts of the community to keep it alive but wonder if locals have thought of the differences between a chain location and an Independent. Would they really support a truly independent bookstore? The independents in that location prior to this didn’t survive (and they were darned good stores). Not far from Belmont some Indies are doing well–but they’re in locations that are densely populated, buy-local aware, and supportive of the quirks and non-chain practices of Indies.
Many Indie’s don’t offer expansive discounts on key titles on a regular basis; chains can and Charlesbank does. If the new Stephen King is only 15% off at the Indie but 40% off at the big box/chain/online stores what will a price shopper do? Charlesbank feels and looks like a mini-Barnes & Noble and if an Indie were to step in that would change dramatically. How would that impact customer loyalty when the discounts are gone?
Indie store owners wear too many hats to count: they are buyers, box-openers, merchandisers, marketing and personnel managers, cleaners, event coordinators, and tenants (I’ve missed plenty). Chains have salaried buyers in centralized offices making decisions for stores nationwide, they have employees devoted to author events, real estate, accounts payable/receivable, shipping, returns and more. Chain employees are paid their wages with some surety. But every single employee of an Indie shop is supported by income made at the shop which comes from the local community supporting that shop.
Don’t get me wrong: I love independent bookstores. But it takes a whole community stepping up to the cash registers on a regular basis for an Indie to thrive.
This is so sad to hear. I hope that this community gets it’s wish and someone swoops in and saves this little bookstore. The big box stores aren’t all bad, but some of their decisions are monumentally unthinking and unfeeling.