Szczeblowski et al. to Open Store in North Cambridge

After last year's shakeup at the Concord Bookshop in Concord, Massachusetts, which resulted in the store's three longtime managers being relieved of their managerial duties, they and many of the remaining staff resigned in frustration.

Now, that experienced management team -- Jane Dawson, Carol Stoltz, and Dale Szczeblowski -- along with three other former Concord booksellers, have incorporated and finalized a lease on a new store, Porter Square Books. According to Szczeblowski -- who is the managing director of the new store, as well as the vice president of the New England Booksellers Association and a member of ABA's Booksellers Advisory Council -- Porter Square Books, to be located on that eponymous square in North Cambridge, will open on October 1.

The location, Szczeblowski told BTW, is quite well suited for a new general bookstore: Porter Square, a mile and a half from Harvard Square, is accessible by a major subway line and commuter train lines, and the store's strip mall location has substantial free parking, unusual in any part of Cambridge.

"Since last February, we have looked all over suburban Boston, and we were struck by the amount of foot traffic here," Szczeblowski said. "The suburbs have nothing like that. The area has been gentrified over the years and the mall has had a major facelift renovation. The mall owners are trying to change the retail mix -- discontinuing leases for some of the chains -- they had been looking for a bookstore."

At 4,480-square-feet, including a cafe, the store has about 75 percent of the shelf space of the Concord Bookshop, Szczeblowski told BTW. "We will have to be a little more selective in our book buying, but mostly the new location will determine our inventory. The customers here are much younger [than in Concord], they are well educated -- a significant number have Ph.D.s. Our plan is to start out as a general store, buying light, and over time see what specialties the neighborhood needs. We are also working on finding a sublet for the cafe operation."

All six co-owners, including the three managers and associate buyer Jane Jacobs, will work in the store, although not all will be full time. The remaining staff positions have all been filled by ex-Concord employees who left due to the management turnover. "We are very lucky," Szczeblowski said. "We are opening a new bookstore with a thoroughly experienced and trained crew."

Szczeblowski finds the experience of owning the store very liberating. "We don't have to answer to anyone except ourselves -- and the bank. There are a lot of decisions to make. Bookselling is not an easy business, but I am buying myself a job. I am kind of a workaholic so even at Concord I worked very long hours, but [starting up the new store] is even more time consuming. Because of the area, we have to stay open until at least 9:00 p.m. every day, maybe later."

The future Porter Square Books is now an empty shell, but plans are in the works. The order for fixtures will be in this week, and a local commercial designer is creating the layout. The owners are hewing fairly close to the successful bookselling model they created at the Concord Bookshop. But, Szczeblowski said, referring to a major, lingering difference of opinion between the Concord owners and the staff, "We will carry newspapers." --Nomi Schwartz

[To read about the controversy at the Concord Bookshop, which led to the formation of Porter Square Books, click here.]