New England Mobile Book Fair To Stay In Newton

NEWTON, MA — Independent book store lovers take heart: The New England Mobile Book Fair is not closing up shop after high rent almost forced it to. There's a sign near the door that says "We're not closing, We're moving." The iconic fixture that has been a fixture in the Newton area for more than a half-century has found a new home just a few blocks from its current home on Needham Street.

The owner is moving to the plaza that hosts Marshalls, into a space right between CVS and the liquor store. Though the plaza is scheduled to undergo major renovations in the coming years (one reason that Fresh City owner cited as one of the reasons he was closing up shop earlier this month) the owner of the plaza gave the Book Fair a more affordable option than its current spot.

"It's a much smaller venue but we'll be able to carry a lot more inventory," owner Tom Lyons told Patch. "It feels great, but of course the stress level is really up there because we've got to get everything moved."

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Lyons said he's looking for volunteers to help with the move in the coming weeks and for folks to come down to the old spot a few more times and check out his moving sales, where bargain books are 50 percent off and genres that he's downsizing such as religion, business, sports and cookbooks are on sale, too. "It's a really good deal. People should come in and take an advantage of the sale.... and the less we have to move the better," he added.

The bookstore had been looking for space since the spring, when the building's lease was up. The owners said they were either going to close up shop or move, but admitted they were really hoping to find a smaller, more affordable space that kept a local presence and were courted by a number of towns and cities nearby.

"Marty Walsh called me and told me we had to move to Boston. But he didn't give me a landlord who offered a decent rent," he said. Lyons also said he thought last fall he was going to move to Waltham, but it turned out the building he was looking at was unstable and would have cost too much to fix.

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“We had been contacted by a number of cities and locations nearby, but ultimately we felt that we wanted to try to stay local, so when Northland contacted us it felt like the right fit. Even though it’s not a permanent solution it helps keep this bookstore close to its roots," said Lyons who praised the company for understanding what it meant to be a local small business owner.

He said Northland was helping to renovate the space, including adding offices and helping with carpet for a reading nook.

Newton-Needham Chamber President Greg Reibman also gave a shout out to Northland for “stepping up and finding a home for this beloved Newton business," in a press release.

“For a while it looked like we were either going to lose the Book Fair to another community, or see it close altogether. This agreement allows Tom time to carefully refine his business model at a challenging time for many retailers but particularly for independent bookstores,” Reibman said.

The space is only available for the next two years because the property is part of a 30-acre redevelopment in the planning stages with the city of Newton that will include housing, retail and office space, as part of an addition to the N2 Innovation District.

“Our concern was that the city of Newton should not lose this important institution,” said Senior Vice President of Northland Investment Corporation Peter Standish, also intimating the store might be able stay beyond redevelopment; “This use fits squarely with the vision for our proposed mixed-use development, and we hope to find the Bookstore a permanent home here.”

And that said Lyons, is very encouraging. He's seen some of the plans for the plaza and has his eye on one particular building.

"Overall so far it's been a positive experience, with Northland. We're excited about being able to move. It's bad that we have to lose this institution, but it is what it is," he told Patch. "I bought [the Book Fair] to save it, and we were able to keep it for five years. I bought it to make sure it didn't close and even though I thought about closing it at one point, I thought, nah 'I'm going to to try to make it work' and this looks like this will help," he said.

An opening celebration is planned for mid-June.

Northland Investment Corporation is a national real estate investment company headquartered in Newton.

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Photo courtesy of the Newton Needham Chamber of Commerce.