The Spirit of '76 Turns 40

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Spirit of '76 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on February 15 with a day-long sale, an anniversary cake, and a Book Sense gift card giveaway, was fine, said owner Robert Hugo, but the real joy was holding court with the customers and friends to whom he has handsold books for the past four decades. To many of them, he has sold multiple copies of his favorites, like Make Way for Ducklings and Goodnight Moon, for different generations of the same families.

"I've known some customers since they were two, and now I'm selling them books for their children," said Hugo, who also owns Massachusetts' Book Rack in Newburyport and Andover Bookstore in Andover, which is now run by his son, John. Hugo is also co-owner of New Hamphire's Water Street Bookstore in Exeter and RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth.

Hugo and the store circa 1976.

Hugo's involvement in the bookselling business began when he partnered with his brothers Robert and David to open The Spirit of '76 Bookstore in Marblehead. Robert worked at the store while a student at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and after graduating he bought out his brothers. He had to keep yeoman's hours to make ends meet.

"It was hard," said Hugo, who had to get by on two or three-hour naps. "I took other jobs to pay the bills. I worked making motors from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. From 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., I was at the store. I would sleep from a little after 7:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m., then I'd go to the store, which was right across the street from my house." Soon Hugo gave up building motors and took a job as a busboy and worked from 7:00 p.m. until midnight. "Two good things happened," he said. "I got fed, and I got a good night's sleep."

Business didn't pick up until Hugo took out a loan to stock more books and moved The Spirit of '76 to the central part of Marblehead. Relocating "made all the difference," he said. The bookstore has been in the same location since 1969 -- the historic 1889 Rechabite red brick building, which originally housed the town's temperance organization for four years. "I guess people weren't so interested in temperance," Hugo joked. In 1976, he bought the building. When Hugo discovers a good location, he looks to buy, he said. "I don't want to get kicked out by the landlord or have my rent raised."

The Spirit of '76 Bookstore today.

The Spirit of '76 occupies a 3,000-square-foot space on the first floor and the rest of the building is rented out to a ballet studio and an illustrator of children's books (George Ulrich, Mrs. Picasso's Polliwog, Images), among others. Since Marblehead is a harbor town and vies with a neighboring town, Beverly, for the title of "the birthplace of the American Navy," the bookstore specializes in nautical books. Patrick O'Brian's series of nautical novels are top sellers for the store. Other significant sections in the store, which stocks between 26,000 to 27,000 titles, are children's literature and trade paperback fiction.

"Trade paperback is my real business," said Hugo. "The Kite Runner this year. Lovely Bones last year. There's not a question of saving money somewhere else. It's going to be $12 pretty much wherever you go."

Hugo credits the ability to be nimble in a changing marketplace as one of his strategies for prospering in a two percent business.

With friend and business partner Dan Chartrand.

"If a customer says, 'I can get that $20 book for $12 somewhere else,' I'll say, 'If money's the problem, let me give you two $6 paperbacks because that $20 book is a lousy book.' The customer comes back and says, 'Two more please.'"

In addition, to being adaptable, Hugo noted that booksellers should be able to "make their computer sing." He said that if a customer recalls an interesting book mentioned on Oprah, but can't remember the title, author, or even subject, he and staff can look up the program by date, determine the guests, and find the author. "People expect that now," he said. "It takes less than eight minutes, but if we couldn't do it, we wouldn't be where we are now." --Karen Schechner