HugoBooks, which owns three stores in Massachusetts, is opening a fourth, on November 15, in a former Borders Express location in the Swampscott Mall, an outdoor mall, in Swampscott.
"It's a little contrarian," John Hugo, son of HugoBooks founder Bob Hugo, commented. "But we believe there's a place for bookstores." The Swampscott Borders Express was one of the top-performing Borders Expresses in the country, Hugo added.
HugoBooks began in 1965 when Bob Hugo opened the Spirit of '76 in Marblehead, which is five miles from Swampscott. In 1988, he bought the Book Rack in Newburyport and in 1992 the Andover Bookstore in Andover. HugoBooks was also a part owner of Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, N.H., and RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, N.H.
In honor of both the area's Vinnin Square name and the original Hugo store, the new store will be called the Spirit of '76 ².
John Hugo said that the company signed a lease on the location only two weeks ago. It has 2,400 square feet of the space and was able to buy the fixtures for "almost nothing." After "a lot of late nights," the store is ready for a major shipment from Ingram next week. The new store will have a "regular mix of titles, with a good children's section and a bit more sidelines than our other stores," Hugo said.
The mall includes a Whole Foods and Joseph A. Bank Clothiers and draws more traffic, "much heavier than at the other stores," Hugo said. Many residents of Marblehead shop in the area and know the Spirit of '76.
