Micawber leaves Labyrinth a challenging market

After more than 25 years in business, Micawber Books will permanently close its doors this March. The Nassau Street retailer was sold to the University last November following an extensive search that culminated in an agreement that will bring Labyrinth Books, an independent scholarly bookstore, to Princeton's downtown district next fall.

The hunt for a qualified buyer began more than two years ago, and Micawber's founder confesses he was not exactly sure what he was looking for.

"We had trouble envisioning the perfect buyer and were very nervous about how it would play out," said Logan Fox, who co-owns the store, which has become a Princeton institution since its opening in 1981. "We were looking for someone to come in, give us a paycheck, keep on the employees, stay on Nassau Street and run the store in the same kind of way."

Fox' concerns were allayed last year when University officials proposed to buy the store and bring in Labyrinth Books, a private operator that already serves Yale and Columbia.

"They had a respectable price," Fox said, "we were able to keep our inventory, our employees can join Labyrinth if they choose to and we have the promise of a good, independent bookstore on Nassau Street for 15 to 20 years."

Fox leaves bookselling at a time when the industry faces intense competition from chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders and online vendors like amazon.com. But the current challenges are nothing new to Fox.

"It has been a constant battle," he said. "Every day you have to prove your mettle. You always have to try and win new customers, to reach out to the community. There is no coasting."

At the same time, though, Fox is not pessimistic about the future of independent bookstores.

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"It just takes the proper incubator to make it work," he explained. "You need a clear vision for what your niche is. Then you need to stay true to that vision. You have to be a good people person, work like the devil and not expect instant returns. No one's getting rich here. And you have to be willing to dedicate your life to it."

Fox makes no secret about the reasons Micawber has been successful over the last quarter century.

"First, we found the perfect location," he said of his Nassau Street storefront. "We established strong, steady ties with both the literary mafia that existed back then and people within the University. We outworked a lot of people. And we were extremely lucky. We could have gone under in the early 1990s, but momentum shifted and [co-owner] Margaret Griffin came in and provided us with financial stability."

But before closing up shop, Micawber's owners have one final request.

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"Please, please, everyone come," said Fox, adding that the store's inventory goes on sale this week at deeply discounted rates. "We still have books to sell. This is a way for students to come and start building their personal library collections on the cheap."

As Fox and Griffin set out to pursue other dreams and interests, their successor is no stranger to the independent bookselling business. Labyrinth Books will stock the 7,000 square-foot facility with 70,000 titles of scholarly and general books. The store will also be responsible for overseeing the University's textbook operation. The move comes after the U-Store agreed to discontinue its bookselling operation and limit itself to selling retail merchandise, such as University-related apparel and dorm supplies.

Labyrinth co-owner Clifford Simms said the store has rejected requests by other universities to open up shop near campus but saw something special at Princeton.

"What I think is different here is that Princeton really was committed to a vision of perfect sense — that universities really need to have a good bookstore as a reflection of their values and aspirations and the work they do," Simms said.

Like his predecessors on Nassau Street, Simms is familiar with the difficulties independent bookstores face.

"We compete because we work very hard at being booksellers," Simms said. "We try to generate a culture of bookselling, an interest in the book, and that's really what helps us compete. It is important to offer yourself as a community store with all the different parts of the community."

When his store opens next fall, Simms said University students should expect a more pleasant shopping experience than at the U-Store or Micawber.

"We think through how to support students in any way that we can," he said. "We think they will be served much more quickly than they have in the past. We hope to be an environment that's not only just getting your textbooks, [so] then we'll see you [the] next semester."