Venerable Belfast bookshop going out of business
1/23/10 | 13 comments
Closing the book?

Venerable Belfast bookshop going out of business


Hard times for independent booksellers
By Abigail Curtis
BDN Staff
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY GABOR DEGRE
Bruce (left) and LaRue Hayne, owners of The Fertile Mind Bookshop, read while waiting for customers at their Belfast store. The store has been open for 30 years, and the Haynes have owned it for 15 years. They decided after a year and a half of trying to sell the store that they will close the doors. There was a lot of interest from both in-state and out-of-state, but people said it was nearly impossible to get financing, said the Haynes. “We have not set an exact date, but for sure we are closing,” said Bruce Hayne. They are in the process of selling off the stock of books and hope to close the store in late February. Buy Photo

BELFAST, Maine — The shelves at The Fertile Mind Bookshop are crowded with Maine books, mysteries, classic literature and much more, just like they’ve been for 30 years.

But after longtime owners Bruce and LaRue Hayne dispose of the current stock — now for sale at the bargain rate of 40 percent off — they will close its doors for good.

“A lot of our regulars are making it a point to stop in,” Bruce Hayne said this week from behind the counter of his cozy store. “They tell us they’re going to miss us.”

So will many of the other independent booksellers in Maine, who say that staying in business despite the growing success of Internet behemoth Amazon.com is an uphill battle.

“The Fertile Mind is an institution,” said Andy Lacher, who has owned BookStacks in Bucksport since 1997 and is concerned about its future, too. “That’s what I worry about here. I worry every day. You’re all in the same boat. You just hang on by your fingernails.”

The Haynes, who are taking their second retirement, say they wanted to leave the business so they could spend more time with their grandchildren in Costa Rica. They tried for more than a year and a half to sell the business. Although a number of people were very interested, Bruce Hayne said, no one was able to get the financing together to turn a book-selling dream into reality.

“Frankly, this year was not a good year,” he said.

‘Rough year’

There’s a troubling trend for bookstores both big and small. Major book retailer B. Dalton is closing its doors nationwide this month. Its Bangor Mall location already is closed. Port in a Storm, a landmark bookstore on Mount Desert Island, went out of business a year ago. And Meg Smith of the industry trade group the American Booksellers Association said Friday that the group’s membership dropped 10 percent in the last year.

“It’s been a rough year,” she said. “The rough economy has not helped.”

Lindsay McGuire, one of the three owners of Left Bank Books in Searsport, said it is “impossible” for small businesses to compete with Amazon.com, which offers steeply discounted prices on an enormous catalog of books. As an example, she offered the pricing for the newest Stephen King hardcover, “Under the Dome.”

“It’s big, and heavy, and retails for $35,” she said. “But Amazon sells it for $17, which is just over half price. We would lose money if we sold it for $17.”

Lacher had strong words for the online giant, which he called tantamount to a monopoly.

“When I walk into the post office and see one of my good customers walking out with an Amazon box — they’re eating my lunch,” he said.

Efforts Friday afternoon to reach an Amazon spokesman were unsuccessful.

While McGuire said she understands why people struggling in the recession would buy through Amazon.com instead of her store, it doesn’t make the choice any more palatable.

“We’re all guilty,” she said. “None of us can be a retail saint or a purist. But if you did some of your shopping locally, [it would help]. If we were trying to support a family on this business, we wouldn’t be able to do it. We couldn’t. We’re lucky this isn’t our prime source of income. Making a go of it in this economy and with the wolves of Barnes & Noble, Borders and Amazon nipping at our feet — it just doesn’t make sense.”

‘Bright spot’

According to Smith, who said she tries to be “hopeful without being Pollyanna-ish,” this year’s grim numbers mask a more positive trend. She said that many members of her trade group themselves engage in e-commerce and also sell more goods with a higher profit margin than new books, including gifts and used books.

“While there’s certainly concern and alarm, there’s a renewed commitment, almost, from independent booksellers,” she said. “In Maine — especially in Portland — there’s a very active ‘local first’ movement.”

Community ties are important, too, booksellers say.

The Haynes bought their store 15 years ago after moving north from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Although they’re looking forward to their southern sojourn — “Every time it snows, we look forward to it more,” Bruce Hayne said — they will miss lots of things about their downtown bookstore, including book signings and the friendships they have developed with customers.

“The people in Belfast are interesting by any measure,” Bruce Hayne said.

That equation is reciprocal, booksellers say, emphasizing that having viable independent bookstores makes communities more interesting for the people who live there.

“All the technology we’ve got, it’s really isolating us,” Lacher said. “When you have a real store with a real person who says hello — that’s important.”

McGuire said that customer relationships are key.

“The bright spot is that we do have a lot of devoted customers who really do want to support us and don’t want us to go out of business,” she said. “That’s really very, very rewarding. We offer an experience that Amazon can’t, is the way we look at it.”

New business climate

The Haynes and The Fertile Mind won’t soon be forgotten in Belfast or in the bibliophile community.

“It is sad,” said Nancy Burnham, manager of the Belfast Mr. Paperback bookstore, a family-owned Maine company. “I’m sorry they couldn’t find a buyer for their business. It’s the feeling that every man’s death diminishes me.”

She said she envisions a “long slog” until the recession eases and the retail climate improves a little — but even then, there won’t be a return to the easier days of the past.

“I think that how we buy things has changed, permanently,” Burnham said. “I’ve no idea how the next generation will value the printed page.”

Sales of gifts and jewelry help to keep her bookstore afloat, she said.

But she still finds joy in what she does, despite the hard times.

“There’s nothing like finding the perfect book for someone, or sharing a conversation with someone who loved or hated the book you’re talking about. It’s a very close connection. That’s why I wanted to work in a bookstore.”

Even the Haynes can’t quite give up that connection. That’s why they’re now having a wooden cart built in Costa Rica which they’ll use to sell books in English — and takeout coffee — to beach-goers.

“It’ll be called The Thirsty Thinker,” LaRue Hayne said. “We think we’ll have a special niche.”

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Comments
13 comments on this item
On 1/24/10 at 12:56 AM, JohnBuck wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Please, please, PLEASE support your local independent bookstores. Everyone likes to save money, but I'd rather spend a little more and be greeted by proprietors who know my name and what I like. I have been a regular customer of Bookstacks in Bucksport from the very beginning, and can't imagine it gone. Of course I also feel bad for The Fertile Mind in Belfast.

Big corporations are sucking the soul out of our country. :(

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On 1/25/10 at 9:46 AM, jaguarsky wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

This is such a sad comment on the state of our civilization. I live on a fixed income so most of the books I buy come from Amazon or some other discount outlet. But, I hardly ever buy new. When I lived in a less isolated community I always purchased new books from the local bookseller, quite often from The Fertile Mind. As a bibliophile I can't imagine not having the opportunity to walk into a bookstore and touch, smell and sample the treasures there. There are no bookstores within fifty miles of my house now, and I miss those times. The previous post stated the situation well, we are truly becoming a soulless society.

I wish the owners of this great little store well in the new chapter of their lives. And, I hope they know how much they will be missed.

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On 1/25/10 at 11:56 AM, midcoastconservative wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I'm sure the buggy whip makers felt the same way..Times change and either you change with them or get left behind...I'm sure if the bookstore in Belfast wasn't just a hobby to the owners, they could have done something to hang on like Mr. Paperback does..Instead they whine that Amazon is eating their lunch and pack it up and run away...Perhaps if Belfast wasn't so anti-business and had allowed Walmart and Lowes in people might accually drive to Belfast to shop..Instead Rockland , Bangor and Waterville are eating your lunch...You reap what you sow.....And it's only gonna get worse...

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On 1/25/10 at 3:08 PM, downeastgoddess wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I find midcoastconservative's analysis of the state of local businesses astonishing. He is pro chain businesses and does not realize that these are death to Maine's small towns, not life. And the big chain businesses usually have big bank accounts at their home headquarters and only disperse minimum wage job money in the communities and get tax exemptions small businesses don't. How much money in Maine is collected from sales to Amazon? Congratulations midcoastconservative. Your taxes just went up.

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On 1/26/10 at 1:04 AM, midcoastconservative wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Really ?? Rockland seems to be doing just fine...Name ONE town that has died because of a chain store...Belfast is a ghost town compared to Rockland...Atleast folks would have a reason to go to Belfast if Walmart was allowed...As it is now folks travel out of town to shop...How does that help the downtown ??? Hmmm? ALL the sales tax that Amazon collects come back to Maine...Your lack of knowledge is astonishing...

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On 1/26/10 at 11:11 AM, downeastgoddess wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Amazon doesn't collect sales tax on books. The state of Maine does not get any sales tax from Amazon. There are numerous downtowns in Maine and other states that are ghost towns because of WalMarts and other chain stores. And don't forget the tax exemptions these chain stores get because they are bringing minimum wage "jobs" to the communities. Some people like paying more taxes so that WalMart and Amazon does not. I'm not one of them.

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On 1/28/10 at 8:37 AM, warpedg67 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

As someone who works for a big box store I can tell you first hand that they dont all start you at minimum wage and there is room for growth in the company. Not to mention my employer offers full health benefits and lots of discounts on services by other companies that many employees forget to consider when looking at their paycheck. As far as the downtown ghost town thing...you have to ask yourself were those downtowns all thriving before BIG boxes came to town? Chances are most of them were not doing that well in the first place and if you remember big box stores have been around far longer than Wally World...remember Zayres, Ames, Woolworths, Woolco, Richs, Sears, Kmart, etc. People have been moving away from downtown shopping for decades. Is it a sad thing?...yes but it called progress. The simple fact is Americans are lazy and want things convenient so whether that means they want it delivered to their home or they get it at one stop shopping, that is what they are going to do. I hate to see anyone close their business but I somewhat agree with midcoast on this one...to blame it all on big box stores and Amazon is unfair. You do have to take a bit of the blame yourself if you sit back and watch it just happen. At the same time I think you can only do so much...if you cant match your competitors price then you have a problem, especially in this economy. Whether or not a Walmart in Belfast would help the area is debatable...it would hurt some businesses while helping others. Personally, I dont care for Walmart but I think the people of Belfast deserve more options when it comes to shopping and not having to drive to Rockland to do it.

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On 1/28/10 at 8:01 PM, midcoastconservative wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

downeastgodless , still can't name ONE SINGLE TOWN huh ?? I'll help you out...Compare Rockland and Ellsworth's downtown to Belfast and let us know what you discover besides the liberal/union talking points.....My wife also works for a big box .. The pay and benefits are VERY good....Just more lies by the moonbats...Online shopping is the FUTURE and has NOTHING to do with being lazy..It is about CHOICE...Even the big boxes are going that way..You would think the libs would love it being green and all that....Not to mention trying to park and get around the downtowns...Shopping at Walmart or online saves gas which means less pollution....

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On 1/29/10 at 10:19 AM, downeastgoddess wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I prefer Belfast downtown to Rockland and Ellsworth. Name one: How about Calais?

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On 1/29/10 at 10:22 AM, downeastgoddess wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Another one, Houlton. Both have big box. Minimal downtown shopping.

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On 1/30/10 at 8:37 AM, warpedg67 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Not to get off topic but....Work in a big box store for awhile and you will realize how lazy people are...cant put things back where they found them, spend two seconds looking for something before having to ask someone where it is, dump trash wherever they want because they know someone will pick up after them....the list goes on.

I do totally agree that you will continue to see online shopping get bigger and bigger...it wont totally replace brick and mortar but will especially hurt small stores. Rumor has it that Borders may be done for at the end of this year due to that very fact...Amazon is killing even them.

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On 2/1/10 at 11:28 AM, downeastgoddess wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

and then what happens when Amazon goes belly up?

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On 2/4/10 at 3:44 PM, warpedg67 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Good question goddess...personally I have to touch a book, flip thru it, read a bit of it before I buy it. I havent purchased anything from Amazon in years.

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