Blaze Damages Bunch of Grapes Bookstore

By Sally Lodge -- Publishers Weekly, 7/7/2008 8:24:00 AM

A fire severely damaged the Bunch of Grapes bookstore in the town of Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard, on the Fourth of July. The flames spread to the store after completely destroying a restaurant located in the adjacent building. Volunteer firefighters from three towns battled the fast-moving blaze; fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Founded in 1975 by Ann Nelson, Bunch of Grapes received Publishers Weekly’s Bookseller of the Year Award in 2003 and is a landmark on this Massachusetts resort island. According to Katherine Fergason, the store’s manager, the building that houses Bunch of Grapes is still structurally sound, though the books on the store’s first floor are a total loss. The stock on the second floor, where the children’s department is located, fared better, she reports, noting “there was a lot of smoke damage on the top floor, but less damage from water than on the first floor.”

The timing of the fire, coming on a holiday weekend when the island’s population is at its annual peak, could not have been worse. “Our inventory is at its highest level of the year, with all the summer backlist specials and many fall books in,” reports Fergason. “When I woke up on July 5th and it was raining, all I could think of was that it would have been our busiest day of the year other than Christmas Eve.”

Currently owned by John Nelson, the Bunch of Grapes will be closed for the foreseeable future. “Once we are able to go through the store and take a close look, we will be able to decide what direction to go in,” Fergason says. “Right now we don’t really know enough to say what will happen. Everyone in the community and other booksellers have been so supportive, but obviously we miss the store very much. It almost feels like we watched an old friend die. But all you can do is take the next step on the path in front of you, and we’ve got Yankee grit to spare.”