Wellesley couple buy Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store, which had been for sale since last spring, was sold yesterday to a married couple from Wellesley who say they intend to change very little about the place.

Frank Kramer, whose family owned the store for 76 years, sold the Harvard Square landmark to Jeff Mayersohn and Linda Seamonson. The price was not disclosed. Kramer, 66, put the store up for sale last May, saying that after 46 years in the business he wanted to move on to other things and put more effort into Cambridge Local First, an initiative he founded to encourage support for local stores.

Kramer called Mayersohn and Seamonson "the perfect buyers" for the popular local institution. "Jeff loves books, he's studied the business, and knows the store well," Kramer said, adding that he will act as a consultant to the new owners for a while.

Mayersohn, 57, who will take the title of president, said the staff will remain in place, including general manager Carole Horne, who joined the store in 1974. Seamonson will be involved in the store, but Mayersohn said details haven't been worked out. "The store has been my dream," he said, "but she is very excited, too."

A New York City native, Mayersohn said he has loved the store since he came to Harvard as a student at age 19 and haunted the place. He has worked for several high-tech companies in the area, most recently Sonus Networks.

"After I semiretired, I went to bookseller school and began visiting independent stores," he said. "When I saw the Globe article about the store being for sale, I couldn't believe it. I called Frank immediately."

Harvard Book Store, which has 5,500 square feet of selling space, is on Massachusetts Avenue, across from Harvard Yard. It is considered to be in the top tier of independents nationwide, along with Tattered Cover in Denver, Powell's in Portland, Ore., and Elliot Bay in Seattle. Founded in 1932 by Kramer's father, Mark, the store originally sold used books, then expanded into academic textbooks. Before the advent of Internet bookselling and big-box chains such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, it was among hundreds of independent booksellers in the region, including many in the Harvard Square area.

Relatively few thriving independent bookstores are left, and those that succeed usually have a good location in the midst of book readers, a full staff with strong customer service, low lease costs (Kramer's landlord is Harvard University), and a strong menu of author appearances and events. Even then, it's hard today to make independent bookselling work. Local stores such as Lauriat's, WordsWorth, Reading International, and many others have closed in recent years.

Harvard Bookstore, on a busy street with intense foot traffic, is often packed with people, and Mayersohn said he is not worried about the challenges.

"It's a great store, profitable, and extremely well run," he said. "Coming from the high-tech world, I have noticed a trend away from companies that don't offer customer service, toward those that do, and that is what a local bookstore offers." He said he has been struck by the loyalty of Harvard Book Store's customers. "Several have come to me and started interviewing me," he said.

David Mehegan can be reached at mehegan@globe.com.