After a successful run of nearly 25 years, WordsWorth Books in Harvard Square is closing on Saturday.
The couple who own the store, Donna Friedman and Hillel Stavis, also own a children’s bookstore, Curious George Goes to WordsWorth, which they will continue to own and run.
Of course, this is only the most recent in an increasing number of independent bookstores that cannot survive the growth of bookstore chains and Internet sales. Story from Bookweb
sadness
There are several reasons I stopped shopping at Wordsworth, primarily the preponderance of great subject bookstores in the area with better selections in those subjects (children’s; sf&f; mystery; scholarly), and partly because of local independent bookstores with websites from which I can order for pickup, their site — well, bites.
But I’ll say one thing: after Avenue Victor Hugo’s vicious closing, I feel awfully sad about Wordsworth. They weren’t the right store for me anymore, even though I still only patronize local independents.
Re:sadness
I remember WordsWorth’s opening, and what a wonderful addition it made to Harvard Square. But that Harvard Square–where my father taught me the thrill of the bookstore-crawl–has been gone for years. The mallification of the Square has been a sad thing to watch, but most of the little independent shops of all kinds that used to be there are gone, either out of business or moved to areas that are still low-rent enough to support them.
This includes most of the treasured bookstores of younger years, but it’s not limited to them. Yesterday I was talking with two co-workers, it turned into a listing of all the places that used to be in Harvard Square. And I had to explain to one of them where Curious George is by reference to a restaurant across the street that closed years ago.
Big, general-interest independent bookstores aren’t offering anything unique anymore; I no longer live a few subway stops away from the Square and parking is impossible there, while Amazon is open 24/7 and accessible from home or work. It’s the specialty and niche bookstores–like Curious George, which is doing well, but also Pandemonium, the sf bookstore in Harvard Square–those are stores that offer something, not only a deep selection in a specific subject area, but sales staff that are knowledgable in that area and able to offer real help. They’re the ones that can survive the sky-high rents in “fashionable” areas like the one Harvard Square has become.
All of which doesn’t change in the slightest how much I hate it that WordsWorth is closing.