Unchained success

"I do think there's a swing back to valuing local and independent," said Booksmith manager Dana Brigham. "Small and local can be good places to do business and very healthy for your community."

Booksmith is not the only independent bookstore proving surprisingly sturdy in a stormy economy. Other small booksellers are withstanding the downturn with the same combination of community involvement, personalized service, events, e-commerce, and such extras as cafés or gifts or used books, that enabled them to survive the onset of megachains and Amazon.com.

"There's a standard line that the independents are collapsing and they're all going to disappear soon. I think that's a little dated," said John Mutter, editor of the online newsletter Shelf Awareness, which tracks the book industry. "Most of the independents that are left are much stronger than the group as a whole before."

In the 16 years Booksmith competed with Barnes & Noble in Brookline, the number of independent bookstores plummeted from about 6,000 in the early 1990s to 2,200 today, according to the American Booksellers Association, the trade organization for independent shops. Although the overall number continues to fall, the rate of decline has slowed substantially, with more than 350 shops opening since 2005.

Porter Square Books and Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Newtonville Books in Newton, Buttonwood Books & Toys in Cohasset, Willow Books & Cafe in Acton, and Book Ends in Winchester all say they are holding their own. Some are weathering a dip in sales, and Newtonville is showing growth.

"Independent booksellers in the United States, while things are very tough and even tougher in the current environment, have figured out a model that works," said Oren Teicher, who heads the American Booksellers Association. "We don't have any evidence that in the tough times more stores are going out of business."

In 1993, Brigham, one of Booksmith's three co-owners, braced herself for the opening of a Barnes & Noble on the second floor of a building little more than a block up Harvard Street. At 12,600 square feet, it was half the size of a typical superstore but well over twice Booksmith's size at the time. "We were terrified because these big chain stores were all the rage," Brigham recalled.

Booksmith is both a neighborhood anchor and a nationally known independent bookstore. In business since 1961, it succeeded by being cozy, savvy, and decidedly uncorporate. Scores of customers meandered through its aisles one recent Sunday afternoon or sat reading in the black tub chairs scattered throughout. Among them was Paul Toomey, a 40-year-old banker perusing Lonely Planet's guide to Africa. "I like the idea of supporting a local store," he said. "It doesn't feel like a McDonald's when you walk in."

The gift annex that Booksmith opened in a former storage room carries greeting cards, Sigmund Freud action figures, and battery-operated twirling forks for spaghetti. A Used Book Cellar offers a Dick Francis mystery for $3.50 and "The Kite Runner" for $7.50. A sidewalk sandwich board alerts passersby that Jim Lehrer - "that Jim Lehrer" - will read from his new book, "Oh, Johnny," at Coolidge Corner Theatre across the street. Assistant manager Lisa Gozashti was overheard one morning recommending "The Clothes on Their Backs" by Linda Grant as "wonderful storytelling."

Catering to a town where more than three-quarters of adults over 25 have college degrees, Booksmith nurtures its literate clientele with tables of remainders and books recommended by a staff that loves to read. The store's top sellers include Yoko Ogawa's "The Housekeeper and the Professor," which was popular in Japan but is little known in this country, and the national bestseller "Three Cups of Tea." The store has hosted novelist Amy Tan, humorist David Sedaris, and local writer Tom Perrotta, among others.

Nationwide, sales in bookstores of all types fare better than in many businesses. The Census Bureau reports that bookstore sales in January 2009 were virtually unchanged from January 2008, compared with an 8 percent decline in total retail and food service sales. The big chains did not share that good news. Barnes & Noble's store sales dropped 5 percent last quarter compared with 2007, capping a year that CEO Steve Riggio called "the most challenging year that the company and the industry have ever experienced." Fourth-quarter sales in Borders superstores plunged 15 percent, and the chain closed 112 of its Waldenbooks locations in 2008.

Barnes & Noble closed in Coolidge Corner on New Year's Eve. "It was not a profitable store," said Mitchell Klipper, chief operating officer.

Amazon, meanwhile, continues to challenge chains and independents alike. The online retailer's fourth-quarter sales of books and other media rose 9 percent, while Barnes & Noble's online sales fell 10 percent. Booksmith does not reveal particulars of its finances.

Other independents rely on strategies similar to Booksmith's. Harvard Book Store just launched a bicycle delivery service as a green alternative to Amazon's shipping. Porter Square Books opened in 2004 and added a café a year later. Willow Books owner David Didriksen is responding to the bad economy by stocking more paperbacks and practical titles.

"An independent can turn on a dime," Didriksen said. "Big chains tend to be like the Titanic."

Financial consultant Steve Lubin, 43, visits Booksmith regularly with his dog, a terrier named Fred, who roamed the store unleashed. "I come here 99 times out of 100 when I want a book," Lubin said. Susan Silbey, an MIT professor buying "Good Night, Moon" for a student who had a baby, comes regularly with her grandchildren but sometimes purchases books on Amazon. "I feel a little guilty," she said, "because I don't want a bookstore to go out of business."

After years of adapting to compete with Barnes & Noble, Booksmith is changing again, this time enhancing sections that were strong at the chain store to welcome customers like Delphine Johnson, 36, who sat reading "Stop Walking on Eggshells," a psychology book.

"I miss Barnes & Noble so much," Johnson said. "They had a larger selection of science fiction and fantasy, and they had a larger selection of psychology and self-help."

Booksmith has added a third bookcase of science fiction and has reinstated classics by Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. It has also increased its psychology offerings, beefed up mysteries, and tripled its magazine racks to include periodicals like JazzTimes and Smart Money. It has expanded floor space and titles in the children's area.

Brigham admitted to feeling "wonderful" when she learned Barnes & Noble would close.

"We've worked very hard to make ourselves valuable to the community and viable as a business," she said. "We're not feeling smug by any means. . . . This just gives us a little boost at a very tough time."