Hue-Man book store at 2319 FDB/8th Avenue has announced that they will close permanently on July 31st. The shop at the Harlem USA complex opened ten years ago and was one of the pioneer businesses on the new established commercial corridor of FDB located just right below 125th Street. Hue-Man was known for its African-American focused assortment of literature and had celebrity book signing events in recent years. It is unclear if the bookstore will open in a new location in the future but apparently the online presence will be up during the transitional period even though the website is currently down today:
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Aw Man! (pun intended) I got excited in a cab back from JFK yesterday when I heard/saw Hue-Man get a shot out via Marcus Samuelsson's tour of his favorite Harlem places. As a PhD candidate living in Harlem a few years ago, I appreciated the opportunity to have a coffee shop / bookstore in the neighborhood. But, as an African-American mother, I've grown to appreciate its children's book selection and storytime events even more. I hope that members of the community remain customers of Hue-Man online and recognize the value of independent booksellers in a community where public libraries have limited resources.
ReplyDeleteVery sad, I enjoyed several readings and author signings and made purchases over the years, it will be missed, a loss to Harlem.
ReplyDeleteThe closing of any bookstore is a sad event. However -- just to be honest -- I stopped going after my first four or five visits as I found the selection to be very limited.
ReplyDeleteThe is a fine bookstore that unfortunately never drew me in the way a Shakespeare & Co or even a Strand's did. Part of it (for me) also has to do with the fact that the 'cafe' part of it was poorly run.It couldn't even compete with a Dunkin Donuts. I've always believed if you're going to do something, do it right. Get some artesan bagels, some gourmet pastries, and at least some decent coffee.
ReplyDeleteOn the bookstore side of thing, I don't think it's b/c of anything they did wrong per se. I believe the bookstore as a business model is slowly giving way to more media centric businesses (for better or worse).I'm still bummed about their closing. They had some excellent children's books and some good author-signing events.
Agreed. In particular, niche bookstores (as far as Hue-Man was niche as focusing on African-American literature) have mostly lost their place in society because it has become very easy to access a wide variety of niche materials through both mass distributors and through the online sources that have devastated all brick-and-mortar bookstores.
DeleteI visited there on my trip to Harlem, over 8 years ago. Loved it, met Linda and her mom, faboulous women who love the WORD! Word up!
ReplyDeletesorry to see it go.
ReplyDeleteYou have got to be kidding me - WORST run bookstore I have seen. The cafe offered a weak selection of food. The book selection was very thin. It was fairly depressing in general.
ReplyDeleteWhy do some many small business owners in Harlem just miss the target. It's sad.
Because small businesses do not have the resources of a Barnes and Noble. (Which has also taken a hit) and frankly, the bagel selection is not the draw of a community bookstore. Hue-man played an important cultural role in the local community and it will be missed by many.
DeleteThe cafe is great. My Bf and I love there smoothies. I could care less about the bookstore but I'm saddened by the loss of my smoothie place.
ReplyDeleteJust look at any cafe that does good business and copy them. This place sold smoothies, soup and some other random stuff. I struggled to buy anything.
ReplyDeleteLenox coffee - there is a well run business. Caffe latte - same thing. Auberge Laurent - poorly run business. Water finds its level - Step up your game or go out of business. It's that easy.
I'm kinda ambivalent about this.
ReplyDeleteWhile on the one hand, I'm sorry to see a pioneering Harlem business go, HueMan's book selection was scanty and barely qualified as a bookstore to my way of thinking.
The Cafe didn't serve coffee, or tea, or bagels, or panninis.
I can't get too broken up about this.
I suppose there is no chance of getting a B&N around there?
Well if I had to choose between a BN or no bookstore I'd go with BN. Though as mentioned before it's a gamble these days even with heavyweights like BN.I do believe some sort of café/eatery should take residence there. There's certainly enough foot traffic to capitalize on. Something like a Europan might fit the bill. It's popular with tourists and provides a hub for people leaving the gym, the movie theater, or folks on their way to/from Aloft hotel.
ReplyDeletePlease not a Europan. Do we really need the neighborhood to look like the most boring and run-of-the-mill parts of the city?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big fan of it either. My reasoning though is based on the numbers.On major arteries of streets like 125th St, 57st, etc the rents would be high and so you need something big box-esque to fill that void or else you run into the same problem Hueman had. So while I would love for a place like Lenox Coffee or Astor Row Cafe they won't be able to afford the rent.
DeleteIndeed, Hue-Man was a niche bookstore with a small inventory and struggling cafe. Nevertheless, it served as a meeting place for Harlem parents, especially when the public libraries in Harlem underwent renovations, budget cuts and a reduction in their hours. I am well aware of the declining market for brick-and-mortar bookstores and the rising caliber of coffee shops in Harlem (thank goodness), but I also recognize that neighborhood businesses like Hue-Man served communities.
ReplyDeleteFYI: Its almost impossible nowadays to buy children's books with African-American faces without going online; B&N, Book Culture, etc. will direct you to their "wealth of African-American children's books" on their website. So it's nice to have a few places--all with limited selection--where you can flip through the books and determine whether their age appropriate or your child will find them interesting.
fsaGSD - have you been to grandma's place on 120th just west of Lenox? they dont have a ton of books, but the ones they have feature black faces and it's a great resource for our family.
ReplyDeleteyou cant hang out like you could at Hue-Man. but it's something! certainly another local business worth supporting.
It's sad to see Hue-Man Bookstore leave, however it was not the best book store. The inventory was extremely light, and yes, the cafe was disappointing. I do believe there should be a bookstore in the neighborhood but perhaps step it up a notch, and cater to all ethnic backgrounds to draw more customers. For example, there is a place in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. called Kramer's books and afterwards. It's one of the few book stores left, and it has a restaurant/diner and bar area. It's well run, and has been in the neighborhood for many years. Just something to think about going forward...
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