Valley Books to close

By Nick Grabbe
Staff Writer

Published on May 15, 2009

Valley Books, which has been a part of downtown Amherst for 34 years, will close on July 31. "Every good thing has to come to an end, and when it's no longer a good thing, it comes to an end sooner," said owner Larry Pruner.

In 2006, Pruner gave up his $1,300-a-month storefront at 199 North Pleasant St. because two-thirds of his gross sales were coming from the Internet. He moved about 40,000 used, discount and remaindered books across the street to a less visible location at 220 North Pleasant.

But walk-in business has steadily diminished, the rent was going up, and since March his Internet sales have been down by about 30 percent, he said. That decline is probably related to the national recession, he said.

"People aren't buying books when they can get them some other way," he said. "The used book business is like an ecosystem that's been thrown off balance by e-books, the Internet and the recession. It's hammering away at a world that used to exist but doesn't in the same form anymore."

Pruner is offering 30 percent off his already discounted prices, and at some point that will increase to 50 percent or more, he said. The hours will continue to be 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday until the end of June.

Pruner, 62, said he will continue to trade in books over the Internet from his Amherst residence.

There used to be seven or eight bookstores in downtown Amherst, and now there are only two, Amherst Books and Food for Thought.

"Bookstores were places to browse and find something new," said Nat Herold of Amherst Books. "They were places to meet people. You'd come in for one book and find another one."

Customers who used to hunt for books at stores now just go online, and Amherst has lost something of its character as a result, he said.

"The Internet has made everyone more cosmopolitan, but it has made Amherst more parochial," Herold said.