Bestsellers Cafe Closing

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

As part of my ongoing complaint about the Closing of Bookstores, I must observe that Bestseller’s Café in Medford MA is closing on Wednesday, January 28.

It opened over 20 years ago in downtown Medford, across the street from the plaque that claims that “:Jingle Bells” was written based on the winter sleigh races held on that spot. I lived for a time a block away. I used to stop in and buy books and used books. It was great to have a bookstore so close. But then it closed – or so I thought. I discovered that they were actually shut down for a renovation that circumstances forced into a 5-year renovation, and re-opened in 2012. I learned this when a friend had a book launch party there. I’ve been back many times, once to market my own book.

But circumstances have caught up, proving that even being a bookstore AND a coffee shop won’t necessarily save you today. It’s sad to see another indy bookstore go, particularly one that sent out a newsletter. But like Cornerstone Books and A Tangled Web in Salem, MA, Bestsellers is biting the dust.
We still have Wicked Good Books in Salem, that opened when Derby Square Books closed (and in the same place), and the bookstores in Portsmouth and Newburyport and Cambridge, but we’re still losing more than we gain – we lost the two bookstores in Amesbury MA this past year.

2

Damn!
ANOTHER bookstore locally has closed. Look Books, the used book store in Meadow Glen Mall in Medford MA is gone, probably closed after Christmas.

I’m particularly annoyed by these recent closings, since there are so few independents (heck, even non-independents) left. Every loss is that much more significant.

Meadow Glen used to be the closest mall to where I lived, and once had a Waldenbooks. After that closed it was bookless until Harrison’s and this used book place came in. Then Harrison’s left, and now the used book place. The recently-closed Bestseller’s Café was not that far from here. With this closing I don’t think there are any bookstores for miles around – there’s a used book store in Somerville and one in Stoneham and Book Ends in Winchester, , but otherwise it’s not until Cambridge, or the big Barnes and Nobles outside the malls on Routes 1 and 128, or college bookstores.