Bookstore Closing After Five Decades In Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD, MA — A bookstore that has been in Marblehead for more than five decades has closed. In a press release, Spirit of '76 owner John Hugo said sales have been declining for the past three years as Amazon and other online retailers scooped up more market share. The store opened in 1965 in a 500-square-foot space before moving to its current, 3,000-squarefoot location in 1976.

In the past year, sales declined 40 percent, Hugo said. The family will continue to operate its store in Andover.

"People read less in today’s fast paced social media and Netflix world and those that do read have taken their purchases largely to Amazon for its cost and convenience," Hugo said. "The Bookstore cannot meet the fixed costs any longer doing one third of the volume it did in the pre-Amazon era."