First, Mr. Gobbles and M&M, now Quantum Books
Posted by Jammer
Quantum Books, a technical-book store, is one of my favorite zone-out places. I like to walk around and look at all the possible knowledge I could acquire. If only just purchasing a book gave you the knowledge contained within!
Their selection ranges from books about computer graphics and game design, specific software tutorials and "For Dummies" books to deeply technical books on programming, OS internals and software design. They also have educational books for kids and books on all sorts of math subjects, from statistics to algorithms and theoretical math -- stuff I don't understand. They also have geeky games and a few stuffed animals. It's a little bit of geek heaven in the middle of corporate limbo.
Quantum has been in Kendall Square for more than 20 years, serving the high-tech (computer, engineering, medical) community around MIT. They have pretty good prices, and for me -- at least-- the ability to look through a technical book before purchase outweighs the small savings you'd get by ordering at Amazon or elsewhere, not to mention the community benefits of shopping locally.
Well, energy prices and a new landlord have combined to make Quantum's current location untenable. Since much of their business is done online or for corporate accounts, they have decided to retreat into their Wilmington, MA, warehouse as of the end of this week. They will have browsing area for anyone who wants to make the trek, but it won't be the same as dropping by there before work or at lunch to get intellectually centered. June, one of the owners, says that the up side will be the ability to offer "rock bottom prices."
When they move (this weekend), I may pick up some of their unneeded fixtures (hopefully at "rock bottom prices") for the comic shop. I'm still working on moving into the back section of Hub, and I'm not entirely decided about how things will be organized there, but I like their fixtures.
Speaking of book stores moving, MacIntyre and Moore Booksellers had their last days in Davis Square this weekend, and will be opening soon in Porter Square. Porter's more suburban feel (wider, less pedestrian-friendly streets and shopping center with huge parking lot) will lead to less walk-by traffic, hence the lower rents, despite its proximity to Harvard Square and great public transportation access. I'm not familiar with the exact location, but I think M&M will have to become more of a destination store, which it may be, with its weekly philosophy discussions and wide selection of used books. I'd like to think that the proximity of the excellent Porter Square Books will be more of a synergy than competition.
I've thought of making part of Hub a book store, but it's really hard to do that right. Done badly, it would only be a drain on the focus of the store. I thought that perhaps it would be better to facilitate trading of used books for locals in some way rather than trying to stock, market and sell new and used books on my own. It would bring readers into the store and create a community, but not be directly money-generating.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Their selection ranges from books about computer graphics and game design, specific software tutorials and "For Dummies" books to deeply technical books on programming, OS internals and software design. They also have educational books for kids and books on all sorts of math subjects, from statistics to algorithms and theoretical math -- stuff I don't understand. They also have geeky games and a few stuffed animals. It's a little bit of geek heaven in the middle of corporate limbo.
Quantum has been in Kendall Square for more than 20 years, serving the high-tech (computer, engineering, medical) community around MIT. They have pretty good prices, and for me -- at least-- the ability to look through a technical book before purchase outweighs the small savings you'd get by ordering at Amazon or elsewhere, not to mention the community benefits of shopping locally.
Well, energy prices and a new landlord have combined to make Quantum's current location untenable. Since much of their business is done online or for corporate accounts, they have decided to retreat into their Wilmington, MA, warehouse as of the end of this week. They will have browsing area for anyone who wants to make the trek, but it won't be the same as dropping by there before work or at lunch to get intellectually centered. June, one of the owners, says that the up side will be the ability to offer "rock bottom prices."
When they move (this weekend), I may pick up some of their unneeded fixtures (hopefully at "rock bottom prices") for the comic shop. I'm still working on moving into the back section of Hub, and I'm not entirely decided about how things will be organized there, but I like their fixtures.
Speaking of book stores moving, MacIntyre and Moore Booksellers had their last days in Davis Square this weekend, and will be opening soon in Porter Square. Porter's more suburban feel (wider, less pedestrian-friendly streets and shopping center with huge parking lot) will lead to less walk-by traffic, hence the lower rents, despite its proximity to Harvard Square and great public transportation access. I'm not familiar with the exact location, but I think M&M will have to become more of a destination store, which it may be, with its weekly philosophy discussions and wide selection of used books. I'd like to think that the proximity of the excellent Porter Square Books will be more of a synergy than competition.
I've thought of making part of Hub a book store, but it's really hard to do that right. Done badly, it would only be a drain on the focus of the store. I thought that perhaps it would be better to facilitate trading of used books for locals in some way rather than trying to stock, market and sell new and used books on my own. It would bring readers into the store and create a community, but not be directly money-generating.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Labels: hubcomics, Kendall Square, tech geekery, work
4 Comments:
McIntyre & Moore's new location is the former home of Bookcellar Cafe. Some New Age bookstore has also occupied it recently.
The location is below ground level, and is smaller, thus the lower rent. They probably won't be able to host events anymore. The Philosophy Cafe has moved to Harvard Book Store.
That's sad news about Quantum Books. The bookstores keep disappearing one by one.
I can't find the article now, but I remember seeing one about used bookstores that moved to being niche new books stores due to the lack of money in used books. Some went as far as getting liquor licenses and serving beer to get people to stick around and read.
Not sure if that is really a viable option, but you may be able to stock a small collection that would give you a good cross section of people that would already be interested in the shop. What techie wouldn't want to pick up his latest O'Reilly book and comic at the same time?
Just an idea.
There's a comic shop in San Francisco called Isotope that sells beer and supposedly has a sort of lounge atmosphere. I've thought about that, but liquor licenses are notoriously hard to get. Then again, maybe I can have private party nights or something. I'll need to find out the local ordinances.
In Utah, they have lots of private clubs where you pay a "membership fee" at the front door and then they can get around the alcohol limits (watered-down beer, no shots). If I can do that here on certain nights, it could be cool. :)
Otherwise, I'd like to be a bookstore like Quimby's in Chicago. (Check out their site). In Boston, Million Year Picnic or Comicopia are close to what I want to be.
It sounds like that's a fairly good business model, if other people are successful at it. And we're doing better than I expected so far, too. If you find that article, I'd like to see it.
And I'll definitely looking into getting O'Reilly books. :)
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