introducing readers to writers since 1995
March 18, 2004
Boston-Cambridge Axis Loses Two Indies
by Ron HoganI'd written previously about efforts to keep the Grolier Poetry Book Shop open, but the Literary Saloonkeeper hears the tolling of the bell. And the news for indie booksellers gets worse; Avenue Victor Hugo, which was once a regular stop on my Newbury Street shopping expeditions during trips home from college, is also calling it quits. A lengthy, and frankly bitter, list on the store's web site blames its demise on everything from corporate law to authors "who sell their souls to be published, write what is already being written or choose the new for its own sake, opt to feed the demands of editors rather than do their own best work, place style over substance, and bear no standards." With moneygrubbing booksellers and pennypinching consumers thrown in for good measure. And television. Mustn't forget the evils of television.
To be honest, the condescending tone is a major turnoff...and reminds me of something I realized during a conversation nearly a decade ago about a feminist bookstore in LA that shut down after Borders moved in across the street. "You can talk about solidarity for the independents all you want," I said, or words to that effect, "but for whatever reason, the people who used to shop at that store stopped because they decided it wasn't doing a good enough job of providing them with what they wanted anymore." I don't know if in that, or any other case, it's a question of the service deteriorating or the desire shifting. But I can tell you this: the idea that the alternative deserves to exist simply by virtue of providing an alternative hasn't cut it for me since. I shop indie bookstores as much as possible; hell, almost every book I bought when I worked for Amazon was actually picked up at local bookshops even though it cost me more money. But I only did it at those stores that combined a demonstrated love of literature with a commitment to serving their local communities and their immediate customers. I can't say how either of these stores measured up on that front--though I suspect the Grolier's problem was that the customer base it served was simply too small for survival in the increasingly commercialized Harvard Square area...
It might read like that but I don't think that Vince McCaffrey of AVH believes his existence should be guaranteed merely because he is an alternative (though that is an attitude prevalent among indie book store people)
Vince seems to have allowed his 29 years of accumulated frustrations as a retailer who has dealt with the well chronicled book business travails as well as the normal problems of being a retailer (vandalism, dealing with the public day in and day out, agressive parking regulation enforcement on Newbury Street etc) to occasion a well deserved rant about whatever.
Like many of the booksellers I have met Vince is an original and accept it or not, one of a odd brotherhood that have chosen to go into a business that hardly offers great riches even when "successful". I don't believe for a moment that the marketplace is speaking when it makes it impossible for someone like AVH to continue in business—though it is possible that Vince McCaffrey might have forestalled the inevitable by "dumbing down" his approach to bookselling.Who can say?
What I can say is that it is sad day for book lovers in the Boston area.
AVH is a great loss. Not only were they a bookstore that well-served their customers and served as an invaluable resource for recommendations, they also have employed and supported a great many writers at the beginning of their careers. Everyone associated with AVH always seemed to be in it for the right reasons, to me, and it's a shame they're closing down. Of course, I have three good friends who once worked there (two of whom got in engaged in the store). They are all the best sorts of book-lovers, champions of the good that is popular and the good that isn't.
And I'm not sure I want the market to look out for the best interests of readers, though I understand at some level it does do that. I didn't take writers and readers being on the list personally, though I fall into each category, because there was some truth there to me. I do what I can. I'll never stop asking if it's enough. If used bookstores die, so do many out of print books in a very practical sense.
I think the note at the beginning of the list does much to soften it, personally:
Ever thankful to those who made the effort before us, with heartfelt apologies to those who are still in the fight and the few who support them--offered upon the closing of Avenue Victor Hugo Bookshop in Boston.
Posted by: bondgirl at March 18, 2004 09:37 AMIt's a sad situation, to be sure, and even as I regularly beat the "Support your local independent" drum, I do find myself wondering more and more about its future as a book delivery system.
The fact is that for people like us - computer savvy web surfers - there are other ways (and they don't necessarily include Amazon). The most common recurring pattern for me is learning about a title or an author I feel compelled to check out from a site like this or one of our brethren, and then going to a half.com or bookfinders.com to snap up a cheap copy. Yeah, I'm cheap, sadly but at the volume I buy books (routinely 5 or 6 a week) I can't always manage full sticker price, and many of the titles end up being older or used ones. We talk a lot about alternate book delivery models (POD, etc) but I wonder if the book consuming model is shifting, too.
Posted by: Mark at March 18, 2004 10:05 AMOne of the subtle charms of AVH(besides BLue Bart the cat, who never seemed to warm up to my buddie Rosie) were the signs saying "Please touch the Books"
Mark's right about thinking about the book buying model needing to be reconsidered—especially in light if the speed with which books are remaindered. The book you paid $15 -$19 today is $5 or $6 in three months. There are other pieces to this puzzle but I personally remain resistant to buying books anywhere other than a bookstore from a human bookseller.
By the way, I discovered a new used bookstore in Cambridge, Lorem Ipsum ( think it's www.loremipsumbooks.com) 617.497.7669.The cycle continues...anon.
Posted by: birnbaum at March 18, 2004 12:20 PMBirnbaum: Is Lorem Ipsum any good? I noticed it had taken over Second Hand Cycles' space on my way from yoga to work last week, but was running too late to look in.
Posted by: cinetrix at March 18, 2004 04:01 PMI can't say much about Lorem Ipsum's holdings as I was on my way somewhere and more interested in talking to the two proprietors— who held forth on the life cycles of books.
In case you don't know, the Bryn Mawr bookstore (on Huron Ave) 1/2 price sale commences on Saturday, 3/20. I can't begin to say how many gems and gifts I have found there.
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