Brookline Booksmith acquires Globe Corner’s inventory

In the midst of the decline of bookstores and the rise of e-books, the Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner manages to survive and expand, after purchasing the Globe Corner Bookstore’s website and inventory.

“Simply, Globe Corner went out of business when we were working with them, buying some of their stock and making deals,” said Jodie Vinson, a bookseller at the Brookline Booksmith. “Then as their company began to fall, we decided to pick it back up as a part of our own company.”

Vinson said the Globe Corner Bookstore, once located in Harvard Square, went out of business last year, but they approached the Brookline Booksmith to help them expand. By April, the Brookline Booksmith acquired the Globe Corner Bookstore website and extra stock, she said.

The store will feature a new travel annex with more than 2,000 map titles covering all regions and cities of the world, she said.

The store’s goal is to make the annex the largest travel sector in the country, Vinson said.

Globe Corner Bookstore Founder Patrick Carrier said in a statement on the Globe Corner Bookstore’s website that the transition is a “great pleasure.”

“As the Globe Corner celebrates its 30th anniversary, it is a great pleasure to pass on its ‘legacy’ to an extraordinary local bookseller that is marking its 50th anniversary,” he said. “We could not have found a better home for globecorner.com, and I am pleased that greater Boston-area travelers will continue to have an opportunity to browse a deep and broad selection of travel books and maps.”

Customers browsing the Brookline Booksmith Sunday afternoon said they still enjoy tangible books despite the literary world’s transition into the electronic era.

Tera Feldman, of Boston, said she was surprised the Brookline Booksmith is able to expand because she just bought a Kindle and sees its appeal.

“I guess I still like coming to bookstores – I like browsing books, I still like to hold the books even though I have the Kindle,” Feldman said. “I do still like regular books and I think maybe there are still some people like that and that’s why they can expand, but I do find it interesting that they are able to expand.”

Julie Hoffman, of Boston, said she comes to the bookstore maybe once a month, but she buys a good portion of the books she owns on Amazon.

Still, she said the shop was a great place to bring people visiting town.

“This is a wonderful neighborhood store,” she said. “The employees write great reviews of the books. They have great book clubs. They have a great youth section downstairs.”

Although Border’s bankruptcy and closure in 2011 suggested the book industry’s decline, total book trade sales increased by 27.1 percent from January 2011 to 2012, according to an Association of American Publishers press release.

“I’d hate to see bookstores go away so I like the idea that they’re expanding,” she said. “Whether or not it’s a good business move I don’t know.”

Steve Deasy, of Boston, said bookstores in Boston should have a significant impact since the city is traditionally academic.

“However, I’m not sure how much disposable income students have to buy discretionary books, so the perception may be, ‘There’s lots of students and therefore lots of people buying books,’” he said. “Generally students are strapped for cash, and therefore the books they’re buying are the ones they have to buy, and then it’s food, clothing and entertainment after that.”

Brookline Booksmith Co-owner Dana Brigham said in a statement on globecorner.com the store has learned a lot from the Carriers, the owners of the Globe Corner Bookstore.

“It has been our privilege and pleasure to bring their expertise to our shelves,” Brigham said. “One of the Globe Corner’s unique and beautiful carved wooden signs now adorns our travel area. We’re excited to be folding more of the Globe Corner into what we do and sharing that with our community and beyond.”