Bookstore Redux: Spirit of 76² Opens

The co-owner of the new Spirit of 76² bookstore heard a familiar refrain from customers Tuesday morning.

It was a resounding variation on the following: We're so glad to have a bookstore in Swampscott again.

The last one shuttered in August, Borders Express, in the same Paradise Road/Swampscott Mall space that Spirit now occupies.

Spirit co-owner John Hugo threw open his doors at 10 am Tuesday.

Five or six customers entered — ready to wander, wonder and get their hands on a book.

He was so busy he didn't notice the title of the first book sold.

Later, in early afternoon, he reviewed his register's sales. The first book was A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France.

This is one of four Hugo bookstores. There's also a Spirit of 76 in downtown Marblehead.

He took its name and added the square sign (²). Presto. A familiar name reflecting a new location by Vinnin Square. 

About 1 pm, Sandra Spector of Marblehead was among four or five customers breathing the bookery's intoxicating air. The air smelled of fresh books.

She was excited.

"I'm so happy," she said. "I'm lost without a bookstore."

Hugo helped her find the mystery section and writer Robert Parker.

Soon she wore that familiar expression shared by book browsers everywhere, a content gaze, an in-your-own-little-world gaze.

She meandered among titles.

There's a new bookstore in town.

Spirt of 76² is open Monday through Saturday 10 am to 9 pm, and Sunday 12 pm to 6 pm