Nine-year-old Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass., is the latest Boston-area store to go on the selling block, after successful transitions for New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton Highlands, which changed hands in 2011, and Wellesley Booksmith, in 2010. With co-owner Jane Dawson nearing retirement, the other partners have decided it would be best to to sell the 4,500 sq. ft. bookstore, which has been profitable every year since it opened in 2004, to someone from a younger generation.
“We’ve really been able to establish Porter Square Books as a vital community institution. We have embraced e-books, author events, sidelines, and even a café—all things a successful bookstore needs to have in the 21st century,” said PSB president Carol Stoltz. “We want that to continue. The real message is this is only motivated by retirement and future retirement.”
Stoltz said that she and the other owners are willing to wait for the right buyer. Most of the partners are also willing to stay on and continue to play an active role in the store, which was nominated for a 2013 WNBA Pannell Award. “Business is terrific, and our landlord is terrific,” she added. “We’re not in a rush.”
Paul Siegenthaler of Ridge Hall Partners, Inc., who handled the sale for both the Book Fair and Wellesley will also be representing PSB. He can be reached at: paul@ridgehillpartners.com.
