The Indie Bookstore Revival:
Boston’s independent bookstores begin a new chapter

Step aside, Barnes and Noble.
The independent bookstore revival is here. Photos from the city’s most beloved businesses show us why.

Last June, after 20 years in business, bookselling giant Barnes and Noble closed its doors at the Prudential Center in Back Bay for good. With no major chain in town, experts say they are seeing a boom in business for independent booksellers, including Harvard Book Store, which will be taking over Barnes and Noble’s former home in the Pru sometime this spring.

Beth Ineson is the executive director of the New England Independent Booksellers Association. She says indie bookstores across the region have experienced significant growth in the past three years. 

“We’ve had more new stores open in the past 18 months than in the previous 13 years of the organization,” she says. Her association — which includes retailers of new books located in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts — welcomed 33 new members in 2022 alone. “It’s been quite a resurgence across the entire territory.”

Many of these stores are Boston-based, too. In September, the city’s literary community was captivated by the grand opening of Beacon Hill Books, a four-story indie bookstore and café on Charles Street. East End Books, a popular Provincetown establishment, is slated to open a second location in the Seaport by the end of this year. Just over a year ago, Cambridge-based indie, Porter Square Books, launched their own Seaport branch.

But before these flashy new spots emerged on the city’s book scene, customers flocked to familiar favorites like The Brattle Book Shop, Commonwealth Books, Harvard Book Store, and Trident Booksellers. In a changing bookstore landscape, these long-time establishments have remained the same: beloved businesses with dedicated customers and a carefully curated inventory to keep them running. 

Fortunately, with a diverse range of book offerings, Boston has ample room for both old and new. In both cases, supporters of local booksellers — like Vikram Gupta, a frequent customer at Harvard Book Store — agree: independent bookstores offer a special experience worth keeping alive.

“I suppose it’s like going to a museum,” Gupta says. “I don’t know what I’m going to find, so I go and I hunt."

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 — Established in 1825, the Brattle Book Shop is one of the country’s oldest book shops. Nestled between two restaurants in Boston’s Downtown neighborhood, the store features a selection of 250,000 used and rare books, maps a

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 — Established in 1825, the Brattle Book Shop is one of the country’s oldest book shops. Nestled between two restaurants in Boston’s Downtown neighborhood, the store features a selection of 250,000 used and rare books, maps and prints spread out among three floors. Outside, there’s even more for book lovers to explore: in an outdoor lot next to the shop, The Brattle offers hundreds of sale and clearance books, all priced below $5. (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 — Hart Lidov, a neuropathologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and professor at Harvard University, visits The Brattle Book Shop nearly every Saturday to browse the store’s inventory of secondhand and rare books — a selectio

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 — Hart Lidov, a neuropathologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and professor at Harvard University, visits The Brattle Book Shop nearly every Saturday to browse the store’s inventory of secondhand and rare books — a selection which he believes is unique to this location. “It’s sort of a treasure hunt,” Lidov says. “You sometimes find really amazing, unusual things that you can’t find online, and you can’t really find any place else.” (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 — Since graduating from a creative writing program at Emerson College four years ago, Rory Prior has worked as a bookseller at The Brattle Book Shop. In their opinion, customers return to independent bookstores like this one

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 — Since graduating from a creative writing program at Emerson College four years ago, Rory Prior has worked as a bookseller at The Brattle Book Shop. In their opinion, customers return to independent bookstores like this one because of the shopping experience these stores create. “You know, in Barnes and Noble, you kind of tend to go with a task at hand, like an errand to finish,” Prior says. “[At The Brattle] it’s just not as commercial and it’s a bit more personal.” (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 — On The Brattle Book Shop’s top floor, Bill Johnston, manager of Commonwealth Books, examines a collection of vintage books. Located within an 8 minute walk of each other, both Commonwealth and The Brattle are independent s

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 — On The Brattle Book Shop’s top floor, Bill Johnston, manager of Commonwealth Books, examines a collection of vintage books. Located within an 8 minute walk of each other, both Commonwealth and The Brattle are independent sellers specializing in antique and uncommon finds, including leather-bound tomes, rare maps and comic books. (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 —Commonwealth Books employee Eric Showag prepares to serve customers on a Saturday evening. A Downtown Boston landmark for over two decades, Commonwealth is one of the city’s most popular used bookstores. While its offerings

Boston, MA: Nov. 26, 2022 —Commonwealth Books employee Eric Showag prepares to serve customers on a Saturday evening. A Downtown Boston landmark for over two decades, Commonwealth is one of the city’s most popular used bookstores. While its offerings are similar to other neighborhood spots, including The Brattle Book Shop a few blocks away, Showag stresses that there’s room for all in this city’s independent bookstore space. “We all make up a different piece of the puzzle,” he says. (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Boston, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — A customer sifts through Commonwealth Books’ large collection of antique maps. Located on the historic Spring Lane, the shop has been a popular institution for bibliophiles and rare print enthusiasts since launching in 1993

Boston, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — A customer sifts through Commonwealth Books’ large collection of antique maps. Located on the historic Spring Lane, the shop has been a popular institution for bibliophiles and rare print enthusiasts since launching in 1993. It also makes up one of 12 bookstores in the Boston-Cambridge area specializing in antiquarian collectibles, as registered under the Southern New England Antiquarian Booksellers directory. (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Cambridge, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Staff recommendations, printed on laminated pieces of white cardstock and placed among floor-to-ceiling shelves, are common practice in independent businesses like Harvard Book Store. Locally owned since 1932, Harvard Bo

Cambridge, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Staff recommendations, printed on laminated pieces of white cardstock and placed among floor-to-ceiling shelves, are common practice in independent businesses like Harvard Book Store. Locally owned since 1932, Harvard Book Store focuses on stocking a diverse selection of new, used and remaindered books — including those put out by little-known authors and publishing houses. “I would argue with anybody that we’re the best curated bookstore in the greater Boston area,” says Mark Lamphier, the store’s manager. “We cast a wide net.” (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Cambridge, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Harvard Book Store manager Mark Lamphier oversees a team of staff on a busy Saturday afternoon. In 2023, the independent bookseller will expand across the river to Back Bay, replacing Barnes and Noble as the Prudential C

Cambridge, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Harvard Book Store manager Mark Lamphier oversees a team of staff on a busy Saturday afternoon. In 2023, the independent bookseller will expand across the river to Back Bay, replacing Barnes and Noble as the Prudential Center’s resident bookstore. (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Cambridge, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Eulasha Tisnovsky, an economics student at Tufts University in Medford, visits independent bookshops to spend some down-time and browse the inventory. On a rainy Saturday in Cambridge, she took shelter from the bad weath

Cambridge, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Eulasha Tisnovsky, an economics student at Tufts University in Medford, visits independent bookshops to spend some down-time and browse the inventory. On a rainy Saturday in Cambridge, she took shelter from the bad weather in Harvard Book Store’s children’s section. The shop’s manager, Mark Lamphier, believes students like Tisnovsky play a role in his company’s continued success, even after two years of pandemic-related changes within the book retail industry. “We have a big sale every fall for our frequent buyer cards,” he says, referring to the store’s customer loyalty program. “[This year,] I was struck by the number of younger folks, 30 and under.” (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Boston, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Newton North High School sophomores Lucia Campbell and Uma Katz often spend their free time on the weekend at bookstores, including Trident Booksellers and Café, where they enjoy shopping for unique gifts and taking photos

Boston, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Newton North High School sophomores Lucia Campbell and Uma Katz often spend their free time on the weekend at bookstores, including Trident Booksellers and Café, where they enjoy shopping for unique gifts and taking photos for their social media. Beth Ineson, executive director of the New England Independent Booksellers Association, says the growth of the independent bookselling business in the region can be attributed, in part, to young readers like Campbell and Katz, as well as book communities on social media platforms. “There’s this generational trend, as Gen Z has started to think about buying books on their own,” Ineson says. “I also think that the rise of TikTok as an influencer, which is targeting that demographic directly, is pushing print books.” (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)

Boston, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Tucked in the back of Trident Booksellers and Café’s second floor, tiny chairs offer a quiet refuge for young readers perusing the children’s section. A Newbury Street staple since 1984, Trident is a family-owned store and

Boston, MA: Dec. 3, 2022 — Tucked in the back of Trident Booksellers and Café’s second floor, tiny chairs offer a quiet refuge for young readers perusing the children’s section. A Newbury Street staple since 1984, Trident is a family-owned store and restaurant featuring a carefully curated selection of new books, local goods and gifts. (Photo by Elisabeth Hadjis)