Attention Hackers: Anyone Want to Buy a Bookstore?
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slice.mit.edu
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If you've traveled through Cambridge's Inman Square in the past ten years, chances are you passed time in the aisles of Lorem Ipsum Books, a used book retailer owned by Matt Mankins SM '03.The store, which also sells books online, is known for its offbeat promotions, expansive science offerings, and unique pricing structure. Each book's cost is determined via software—built by Mankins—that searches online competitor prices in real-time and factors in the book's condition and level of rarity.
Mankins, who was profiled in MIT Technology Review, opened Lorem Ipsum in 2004 as a hybrid retailer seeking to integrate e-commerce into a traditional brick-and-mortar bookstore. He moved to New York in 2009, where he works in publishing, but has maintained store ownership.
The store—voted best used bookstore in Boston three years running—is currently not profitable. Rather than closing down, he announced Lorem Ipsum is for sale via a post on Hacker News.
"Know of a hacker in Cambridge or Boston who wants a bookstore?"The post has generated more than 100 responses that include a variety of advice and ideas for Mankins or the next owner, including micro-publishing, an upscale thesis-binding service, a coffee shop/bookstore hybrid, sponsored book clubs, and a plea to stop selling books."I started Lorem Ipsum Books 9 years ago with the belief that bookstores were an important part of our community—and that they needed to innovate in order to survive...It's time to innovate again. The bookstore needs fresh ideas, a radical change in thinking, and a re-imagining of the role of the bookstore in the future. I write to Hacker News to ask if anyone knows anyone in the Cambridge or Boston area that would be interested in this project."
Mankins says the ideal buyer will work to keep bookstores as viable community entities.
From The Boston Globe:Do you have any advice for a fellow MIT alumnus? Better yet, anyone interested in buying a bookstore?"I'm looking for someone to pick up the fight, to be an on-the-ground advocate proclaiming bookstores are here to stay…if we can change with the times. Ideally I'd find an innovator who enjoys reading, understands the community benefits that bookstores provide, and isn't afraid to do things differently to nudge the store and the industry in different directions."
