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December 17, 2021
Dear Harvard Book Store Customers,
This week, we were pleased to announce that John W. Henry, principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Globe, will be making a series of investments in Harvard Book Store. Needless to say, we are very excited about this partnership, which will be transformative for our business.
John originally reached out to us during a very low point in the pandemic, having read about the financial challenges our store was facing, and offered to help. While over the last few months our financial situation has improved—thanks to our customers, our marvelous staff, our landlords Harvard Real Estate, and some very generous government programs—the long-term sustainability of Harvard Book Store remained uncertain. And so, our conversations with John have evolved from simply preserving the business in the short-term, to developing a vision for how we might work together to better serve our community of readers and writers for decades to come.
In the immediate future, we will embark on a series of renovation projects for our store at 1256 Mass Ave in Cambridge and enhancements to the browsing and e-commerce experience at harvard.com. All of these will make Harvard Book Store a better place to work and a better place to shop. Beyond these immediate projects, we are developing other plans, all in very early stages, that will serve the literary community in exciting ways. We look forward to sharing more with you as these projects progress.
John and Linda Henry are ideal partners for our bookstore. They are deeply committed to our region and its cultural institutions, having invested in community projects for more than two decades. They are known for their philanthropic work; the Red Sox Foundation is the largest in Major League Baseball. They are also committed to independent bookstores and are insistent that Harvard Book Store maintain its indie identity, which has defined it for almost ninety years.
Ballpark visitors see the Henry philosophy at work with each trip to Fenway. Rather than build a soulless suburban stadium, they have preserved the character of a beloved Boston landmark built in 1912, while bringing many of its amenities into the 21st century. Similarly, their stewardship of the Boston Globe shows a real commitment to print journalism, while ushering the paper into the digital age.
So, we look forward to working with the Henrys, and to all the ways we can together serve you, our customers.
Jeff Mayersohn and Linda Seamonson
Owners, Harvard Book Store
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