Schoenhof's to Close Physical Store in Cambridge, Mass.

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After 161 years in business, Schoenhof's Foreign Books plans to close its bookstore in Cambridge, Mass., on March 25, the Harvard Crimson reported. The company, which describes itself as the "oldest and largest foreign language-only bookstore in the United States," was founded in Boston in 1856 and moved to Cambridge in the early 1900s. Schoenhof's will continue to do business through its online store.

Daniel Eastman, the company's general director, said in a press release that high rents in Harvard Square and competition from online booksellers prompted the decision: "In recent years a number of independent businesses have been driven out of the Square by the high rents, and Schoenhof's finds itself joining their ranks.... Our landlord has been quite helpful with us, quite helpful and supportive, but there is only so much that they can possibly do. There comes a point when what they're ready to concede and what we're able to give can't meet."

Eastman noted that Schoenhof's mission "has always been to provide access to the larger world through language learning materials and literature in the original. Given the present political and social climate, that mission becomes ever more meaningful.... We'd like to be able to take advantage, in a way, of having, say, the reduced expenses of our retail location, and invest that into having an amazing website that offers a complete experience, a complete customer experience as close to actually being in a bookstore without being able to be there, as well as offering the lowest possible pricing."

Denise A. Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, stressed the importance of consumers buying from their local retailers: "It's how much they care, and if they care, they will think twice before they go to Amazon to buy something. If they don't walk out of their dorm room or out of their home and into the Square and into a store to support that store--and I don't care whether it's a local, regional, national, or international--if you don't do that, the vibrancy of the Square or of any business district is jeopardized."

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