# The Derby Square Bookstore has closed! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-derby-square-bookstore-has-closed/686434 "2014-04-18T19:10:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-derby-square-bookstore-has-closed/686434/1 "2014-04-18T19:10:41Z")
…in Salem, MA. It was the last remaining bookstore in Salem, which once had so many used and new bookstores. The Cornerstone closed a couple of years ago (right after Halloween, appropriately), and the Derby was the last one hanging on. They’ve been “Going Out Of Business” for years, but always seemed to have new books. But now, after almost 40 years, they finally closed their doors. The Derby Square bookstore was almost unique in having practically no bookshelves – books were _piled_ in stacks, reaching way above your head. Pulling a book you wanted out of the bottom of a stack risked a bookalanche. Here are some pictures: [![](http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Derby-Square-Bookstore-independent-bookstores-551367_280_210.jpg) ](http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Derby-Square-Bookstore-independent-bookstores-551367_280_210.jpg) ![A photo at Derby Square Bookstore](https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/1FQ5JXGwpZtJXczNH5ftUw/o.jpg) Those pictures give a false impression. The bookstore itself is a LOT more claustrophobic than those pictures suggest. They also don’t show how some of the tables the books are resting on are held up by bungee cords (!!) Now the only places in town with books are the museums and the antique stores. But a sign in the window of the now-defunct DSB says that “Salem needs its own bookstore”, and that, after they clean up in there, they’ll be opening “Wicked Good Books”. Of course, it could take them five years to clear all that away. God only knows what they’ll find at the bottoms of those book stacks. Original copies of the Oath of a Freeman and the Bay Psalm book, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-derby-square-bookstore-has-closed/686434/2 "2014-04-18T19:21:54Z")
Ifg you want claustrophobic bookstores, by the way, I’ve found one even tighter and more difficult to get around in. It’s on Route 1 alternate south of Portsmouth Circle near Portsmouth, NH. The bookstore has incredible stuff\*, but it’s much more packed than the last time I was there, years ago. There are piled stacks in the aisles between the shelves, making you shuffle down the aisles sideways. And to make things really interesting, there are holes in the floor (!). The owner insists you be over 18 (because of the adult videos and stuff in the back), and you have to pay $5 admission. \*I once bought a complete set of Richard Burton’s _Arabian Nights_ there. Not one of the reprint sets. ---
**Author:** ![delsina363](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@delsina363](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delsina363)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-derby-square-bookstore-has-closed/686434/3 "2014-04-19T02:11:36Z")
I think I have been there before. I have visited Salem half a dozen times. While wandering around, I came across a book store with stacks and stacks of books. I loved it, and spent over an hour in there. I cannot be positive, but I think it was the bookstore you are writing about. Sad, I used to love bookstores. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-derby-square-bookstore-has-closed/686434/4 "2014-04-19T02:27:59Z")
Looks like a dangerous hellhole to me.