When you walk into the Andover Bookstore, you’d expect to hear a shopkeeper’s bell affixed to the top of the door, or a jet black cat stretching into a yawn below a bay window. However, you’ll not hear the bells or snuggle up to the feline on the sofa. What you will happily find on Main Street in Andover, Massachusetts, is a warm and welcoming atmosphere in the nation’s oldest continuously operated independent bookseller*.
Andover Bookstore harkens back to 1809, coming into existence in the same year as Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Darwin, and Abraham Lincoln. But the shop’s seeds were sown even earlier than that. The book shop grew out of Phillips Academy, one of the oldest high schools in the United States. In due time, Andover Bookstore would begin a run that has lasted just shy of two hundred and twenty years.
While the shop moved around a bit within the town, succumbing to the ebb and flow of the real estate market, it proudly persevered. The cozy English Tudor Revival house is now its home. The vaulted ceilings and decorative molding serve to accentuate its antiquity. Despite its storied history, Andover Bookstore had to counter prevailing winds: slim profit margins and potentially paralyzing mega online booksellers, along with the proliferation of ebooks and audio books.
Sarah Klock, the manager of Andover Bookstore, knows the challenges of being an independent bookshop. “We’re kind of a for-profit that’s more like a not-for-profit. We live in a world where over 70% of our books are bought through Amazon. It [Amazon] started as a bookstore, and books, as its strategy, is a loss leader, so it actually loses hundreds of thousands of dollars on books every year, because it gets billions everywhere else.”
According to the trade group, American Booksellers Association, the organization claimed 7,000 member stores before the advent of Amazon. Immediately thereafter, the number dropped to 1,000. It has since bounced back to around 2,400 shops. The Association’s latest report indicates that nearly 200 stores will open in the coming year or two, but predicts that half will fail.
The current owner of Andover Bookstore, John Hugo, grew up around books. His father, at one point, owned a half dozen locations. This is the last store in the legacy, but one that’s steeped in history and has given Andover and its environs a strong sense of community. Sarah Klock is quick to point out the town’s support, “I think we have a town full of people who are really intentionally engaged in the community, active readers who care about what our Main Street looks like and our institutions look like.” The store’s handful of employees endear themselves to their stalwart patrons. Karen Harris has worked at the bookshop for thirty-four years. Not only does she preside over two book clubs and handle author appearances, but she finds the time to participate in staff book picks. The watercolor greeting cards she designs are on display with other local artists’ cards and gift items; all are sold in the shop. It should be noted that the Andover Bookstore takes pride in their full bookcase that prominently displays the books of local authors.
Evan Friss, author of Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, sees an expanded bottom line as essential. “It is true for many shops that non-book merchandise has been critical, people doing different kinds of events, not only selling non-book stuff, hosting different kinds of events, a wine bar, a coffee shop.” Friss added that one of the nation’s early booksellers, Ben Franklin, had a number of items on sale, aside from books. Space limitations in the store can only accommodate so much activity aside from author talks, thus Andover Bookstore solicits donations from its patrons through crowdsourcing mechanisms like GoFundMe and Patreon. In return, donors expect a return on their investment, searching titles both new and old, and trusting the bookseller to have what they like on hand.
Evan Friss speaks to the thousands of book titles that are released every week. “Most people don’t think about, even at a large independent shop, how small the percentage of books, even new books that have just come out, that you’re actually seeing, so the booksellers are critical gatekeepers, who are deciding what books people are going to read.”
The folks at Andover Bookstore feel they have entrusted the faith of the community in this safe harbor. They cater to clientele who regularly browse and ask for suggestions, and offer literary recommendations in a very relaxed setting. Mr. Friss remarks on a bookstore’s ecosystem, “Sociologists have termed the word, ‘third space.’ These are public spaces, like coffee shops and book stores, where you can go, linger, and loiter. They are reassuring…. There’s a sensation of being surrounded by books and think “that is a really comforting feeling.’”
Perhaps the painted sign on entrance to the Andover Bookstore says it best: Time is soft here.
Andover Bookstore, 74 Main Street, Andover, MA, twenty miles north of Boston, is open seven days a week. The town prides itself on its history and culture, including the prestigious Philips Academy. Main Street offers a number of restaurants and other amenities. https://bookshop.org/shop/andoverbookstore
*The Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania dates back to 1745, is now managed by Barnes and Noble, thus surrendering its independent status.
Article and photos by Tom Farkas, writer, editor, former arts editor for NY1.
