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A Capitol Hill institution, Trover Books, announced yesterday that it will be shutting its doors. Hill residents of the long-term and less permanent kind have long relied on the shop at 221 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, for political books, congressional directories, non-Washington newspapers, and candy and cigars. Joe and Anne Shuman founded their family store in 1958, passing the business on to their three sons. One of them, Andy Shuman, told DCist today that "business has been bad the last couple years and getting steadily worse," a decline that accelerated "as the economy has fallen apart." During a visit to the shop this morning, employees pointed to the postman who came in to deliver the mail: he also had some Amazon packages under his arm.
The brothers grew up with Trover, all went away to college, and all chose to come back, with great pride, to run the store their father built. Heartbroken that the venture was no longer able to support itself, they decided to close now, at a point where they think they can pay off some considerable debts and avoid having to declare bankruptcy. They already had to close the family's nearby Trover Card Shop, after it was badly damaged in the 2007 Capitol Lounge fire. They did not own that building, which was then purchased by the Heritage Foundation, but the family does own the main Trover building, a prime location that they plan to lease out, as a way to cover some of their debts.
Used book stores will continue to have a presence on Capitol Hill, although Nicky Cymrot, wife of the owner of nearby Riverby Books (417 E. Capitol St. SE), said that the closing of Trover was "very sad." As a resident of Capitol Hill since 1966, she wondered if another book store, perhaps hers, could take over one of the things that made Trover a special place, the many book signings the store hosted, often by high-profile political figures. Erica Gutman, another long-time Hill dweller and Tae Kwon Do instructor who came into Riverby by chance to trade some used books, offered another view of what made Trover such an important part of life on the Hill: "One year I bought all my Christmas presents at the Trover shops, just to save time."
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Man, that sucks. I used to get all my cigarettes and rolling papers at Trover. And my stroke mags. Well, the Hill could always use another wine bar or gourmet burger joint. But try getting all your xmas gifts at Good Stuff Eatery.
FYI if you're into loitering in used bookstores, you owe it to yourself to check out Second Story's Rockville warehouse neart Twinbrook Metro. It's like freaking an airplane hangar full of used books. The minute that musty library smell hits, you'll know you're in for hours of browsing.
Also, I'm really digging on the Ms. Butterface in the American Apparel banner ad. She reminds me of a woman that Marion Barry and I used to stalk. Good times.
It's official, all of the good record and book stores in D.C. are now gone.
I was about to reply and say "ain't it the truth" but you do still have Crooked Beat and Bridge Street Books and Second Story. Olsson's is missed though.
Who cares? Every book available at Trover can be had for a lower price online. Trover offered nothing except narrow aisles and disorganized shelves.
Yeah, I buy most of my books online, too (thus the problem for Trover), but you have to admit that the book signings at Amazon do suck.
Sure, you can get anything online, delivered in a day or two, for less than any brick-and-mortar bookstore. But the joys of thumbing through books and actually holding them before buying them are things that future generations might never experience.
wow. sometimes it's not about cheaper it's about supporting local businesses and the local economy. amazon doesn't pay property taxes in the district, but trover will have, and politics & prose does.
I'm really going to miss it. Yeah, you can get the same books on amazon, but there are times when you just want to shuffle down to the book store and pick up the book that you just read about in a review... or just see what they're carrying.
Good reasons to buy in local bookstores:
1) browsing
2) less packaging involved
3) no shipping costs
4) even Amazon can't get you a book same-day (outside of certain large cities)
Trover also had a good newspaper selection. Perfect to stop at before my elegant brunch at the Tune Inn.
Very sad to see another independent book store in the area close. I'm a huge supporter of independent book stores but they are slowly dwindling in the District. Trovers had a wonderful selection of political reads. Plus I got my yearly planner there every year. Friendly and informed staff. It's really too bad.
Another reason to visit Admiral Jim's Capitol Hill Books across C Street from Eastern Market.