At a time when many businesses are contracting, 46-year-old HugoBooks is making good on a long-held plan to expand beyond its original three Massachusetts stores—The Spirit of ’76 in Marblehead, Andover Bookstore in Andover, and The Book Rack Bookstore in Newburyport. In mid-November it will add a fourth just two miles from its Marblehead location, The Spirit of ’762 in Swampscott's Vinnen Square.
“We wanted people to make the connection,” said John Hugo, explaining why he and his father, who co-owns the business with him, decided not to brand the new store HugoBooks. Although none of the stores carry the HugoBooks name, they are linked on the HugoBookstores.com Web site and on store bags and book marks. John said that they chose the 2,300 sq. ft. space so close to Marblehead because it’s in an area with “massive” amounts of traffic and lots of parking. The Square is home to a number of national chains, including Whole Foods Market and Panera Bread, as well as local stores such as The Paper Store, which are a draw.
Like the other HugoBookstores, The Spirit of ’762 will be full-priced and have a strong focus on fiction and new nonfiction, said John. It will also have a large children’s section and a large romance section, along with extensive sidelines when the store opens on November 15, just three weeks after the Hugos signed the lease.
But this isn’t HugoBooks’s only new venture. In June, it added a knitting boutique to the Andover store, which John said is doing “fantastic.” And in August, father and son began partnering with Chris Gonsalves on a school book fair business for grades K-8, Best Book Fairs.
