Howard’s Books is an anachronism: an Evanston institution that no one knows anything about.
After 28 years, the used book store at 2000 Maple St. will shut its doors sometime after the end of June, owner Howard Cohen said. There’s now a sign in the store’s front window: “Too many books, too few customers.”
“I really enjoy having the store,” Cohen said, sitting on a stool in the front of the store. “I’d love there to be a way for me not to close, but the numbers just aren’t working.”
Cohen, 66, runs the store alone, though his daughter helps out from time to time. He said it has become a lonely job – some days during the winter, just two or three people would stop in the entire day. Cohen said he’s just the latest victim of a pernicious trend.
“Every used bookstore in Evanston and probably in Chicago finds less and less people going in the store unless they have a very good location,” he said.
It isn’t an unfamiliar position for Cohen. His store used to be dubbed Booksellers Row, operating multiple Chicago locations, the most venerable along Lincoln Avenue. But the area changed and booksellers moved away. Booksellers Row downsized, closing its branches, and Cohen moved to Evanston.
The new location was well-trafficked for years, but like other independent booksellers, Cohen said his store couldn’t out-compete the Internet. Buyers flocked online as selection was greater and prices were often cheaper, and Cohen said it’s tough to blame them.
“The computer has made books available that at one time were considered scarce,” he said. “Suddenly, you go online and you find 100 copies of a book that you thought is an uncommon book.”
Cohen said he tried to compete. The store discounts all books after a year and tried to reach out to NU students. But despite advertisements and coupons, Cohen said the students don’t come by. He estimates less than 20 percent of his traffic comes from NU students, despite a location about a quarter-mile from campus.
Howard’s Books isn’t going away entirely; Cohen said he’ll take his inventory online. But he said he thinks something will be lost in the transition.
Cohen made another sign for the front window, one that’s not going to make sense anymore once Howard’s Books goes online: “Come in and find that perfect book you weren’t looking for.”
“You see that sign?” said Cohen, gesturing toward the window. “You can’t do that online. You can’t touch, feel.”
Brian Rosenthal contributed to this report.
