When An Independent Bookstore Closes, Anger and Loss

“I used to sell stories,” Larry Abramoff told the Worcester Telegram, which profiled him and his wife more than a year after the closure of their bookstore, Tatnuck Bookseller & Sons.

The Abramoffs still live in Worcester (MA), but Gloria said the transition out of the bookselling life has been difficult: “It was awful. I actually stopped doing my grocery shopping locally because it was a traveling funeral. People would stop me in the produce section. One person said, ‘You ruined my Christmas.’ They were sad but a lot of them expressed it as anger.”

Although they considered buying another bookstore recently, Larry commented “It doesn’t make sense, not today. . . . The finances don’t work. It’s a service to the community.”