New Bookstores Welcomed in Cambridge and Beverly Hills

Recently opened bookstores are Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts (above) and Dutton's Beverly Hills Books in Beverly Hills, California (below).

Although good news was in short supply for many in the "blue" states of Massachusetts and California, there are happy readers, as several experienced booksellers are proving that successful expansion and growth are possible when the timing and the location are right. A brand new bookstore, Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has just opened, and the 20-year-old Dutton's Brentwood Books now has a sibling in the notable 90210 zip code -- Dutton's Beverly Hills Books.

Porter Square Books, open since the first week in October in North Cambridge, is owned, managed, and staffed by a highly trained, knowledgeable, well-qualified group of booksellers. This is not the first time they have all worked together; virtually all of them were previously on the staff of the Concord Bookshop in Concord, Massachusetts. A shakeup by the management at the venerable bookshop left the long-time management team of Dale Szczeblowski, Jane Dawson, and Carol Stoltz ready for a new challenge. Three other former Concord employees are also part owners of the 4,480-square-foot general bookstore, and of the 21 people who worked at Concord with Szczeblowski, et al., 20 were hired by Porter Square Books. This has left the fledgling store with an embarrassment of riches, or at least a bookseller's "dream team," Szczeblowski told BTW. "We have been thrilled with the response from the community. And sales have been meeting out expectations," he said.

Interior of Porter Square Books.

"We now have about 60 percent of our inventory and, of course, we have a lot of things to do. We have been looking for an interested partner to sublet about 300 square feet [of the 3,400-square-foot selling space] for a café. This Sunday is our grand opening/open house. We'll have authors, sale reps, publishing people, giveaways," Szczeblowski said. "We invited all the people who helped us -- between 400 and 500."

Szczeblowski told BTW that anticipation of the store opening was far more nerve-wracking than either working on the space or actually operating the store. He said, "We have all had lots of experience running a bookstore, but no experience opening one."

"Books are Back in Beverly Hills!" proclaims the press release from Dutton's Books in California. "A decade without a general bookstore comes to an end on October 24 with the opening of Dutton's Beverly Hills Books." Just two blocks from Rodeo Drive, on a block where people "live, eat, and shop," owner Doug Dutton told BTW, the 8,000-square-foot store has opened with a week's worth of special activities. Author Cynthia Ozick, author and journalist Kenneth Turan, the performance of a string quartet, kid's events, and a night highlighting university presses were all part of the opening week festivities.

Dutton, who grew up working at his parent's bookstore, Dutton's Books in North Hollywood, was approached by the city of Beverly Hills in 1999. According to Dutton, "They wanted an independent bookstore for the Beverly-Canon Project." He explained that after about five years of "meditation and cogitation," he decided to "bring the Dutton's book-loving spirit to Beverly Hills." --Nomi Schwartz