HOULTON, Maine — It is the final chapter of a storied history in the Shiretown. After 46 and a half years, Lynn York will close the doors on his bookstore on July 31.
“I have mixed emotions,” he said. “It has got to be done because its time is done.”
With the infusion of electronic books, the days of paperbacks, hardbound copies and magazines are settling as chronicles of the past.
“It’s been a long, long run,” said York. “There will be some big sales in here starting on July 3, which is Midnight Madness.”
York’s father started his business career with Yorks Radio Shop and then he developed Houlton Television, Inc. in 1956.
“It was the second television corporation with a cable system,” explained York. “The other one was in South Portland.”
The elder York decided to leave the television industry in its infancy to pursue a business that his wife could also participate in. Yorks Books opened in Houlton in January of 1968 through a corporation formed by the York family and their lawyer, Roland Atchison.
Lynn York joined the family business that winter, but in the fall of 1968, he went into the Army and was shipped to Vietnam. He came back home in 1971 and worked with the bookstore while he was substitute teaching. In October 1973, York went to Washington D.C. to work with the Central Intelligence Agency until 1975.
“When I returned I assumed the chairmanship of the corporation,” York said. “My dad retired, but I retained him for three days a week and he stayed with me until the spring of 2007. He was 93 years old. My mother worked in the store until she was in her late 80s.”
York’s Bookstore started at 80 Main St. in Houlton and after five years, they relocated to the French Block on the corner of Main and Court streets. The next and final stop was nine years later when they moved to 19 Market Square in June of 1981.
“The peak of the store was in 1979,” said York. “Our initial holding in book titles was 2,600 when we were on the corner of Court and Main streets.”
The Yorks moved to a slightly smaller store in Market Square – 1,300 square feet compared to 1,500 — and went down to 1,800 book titles. From 1,800 titles the store dropped to 1,200. Currently, Yorks Books carries 800 book titles in paperback and hard bound.
“Slowly, slowly the books have eroded,” York said. “Unfortunately, the trends have changed. E-books, Kindles, Nook and “crannies” have taken a bite out of it, especially Amazon. A lot has changed in the books business.”
And those who want to have a physical book in their hand seem to be too few and far between.
But, the one thing that has remained strong for Yorks Books has been its Hallmark affiliation. Hallmark cards and gifts have been sold in Yorks Books for 42 years.
“We started selling Hallmark cards in 1972,” he said. “They have been excellent and we are going to keep them running right up until the very end. I do a card order every week. They have made all the difference in the world.”
Throughout its 46 years, Yorks Books has employed 37 employees.
“Some are living still and some are not,” he said.
The highpoints of owning a business for almost half a century are the people that come through the door and the stories shared. York is not short on either one. He has a friend who comes every other year for a visit from Switzerland and many friends from Germany. He has entertained the stars at the bookstore, who have come to the Houlton Fair such as Kris Kristofferson, The Forrester Sisters, Charlie Daniels and the Charlie Daniels band, three times.
“Barbara Mandrell walked in on her own in 1977,” York added.
While reminiscing, etched in York’s memory are not the celebrity accounts, but those that are common and ordinary.
“We started in the ‘heyday’ in the late ‘60s,” he said. “It was a different world. We sold records and we did not even get a chance to open the record cases up. There were 50 in a box, We had five boxes of 50 Beatle’s records and they were gone in three hours. Kids lined up outside the bookstore to get the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
Then there was the elderly lady and granddaughter from Halifax, Nova Scotia who found their way to Yorks Books on a rainy Friday night in 1979.
“We used to be open three nights a week when we were on the corner of Court and Main streets,” said York. “A crippled older lady, who I guessed was well into her 70s, with help from her granddaughter came over the door sill.
“The older lady gimped over to the best-seller rack and opened up the book called “A Night to Remember” by Walter Lord. She said, ‘That is me.’ She was a survivor from the Titanic.
The old lady told York she was born in 1900 and was 12 years old when she had gone to Ireland for the Christmas holidays, along with her brother. They had stayed there for a few months and were traveling back to Nova Scotia with their cousin.
“They did not make it,” said York. “She was the sole survivor of the family. I will never forget that. I only wish I could remember her name.”
Even though the doors of Yorks Books are closing, York himself will not be retiring.
“I have two corporations I am responsible for,” he said. “The second is the Northern Maine Light Shows, which is a tent rental company. I have been doing that for 31 years, so that continues.”
As far as the bookstore, it is the end of an era in Houlton.
“I have always loved Midnight Madness … the craziness … and Christmas,” said York shaking his head. “This has been a joy of a lifetime for me.”
Choking up a bit, York also noted another highlight he would be remiss not to mention are his customers, who have made the bookstore a social centerpiece.
“It has always been great to be able to sit and talk to find out what is going on and who is doing what,” said York with a smile. “It has been a blessing, not a curse.”
Yorks Books has had the honor of being the last standing independent bookstore in the United States of America and the last Hallmark card shop north of Bangor.
“All of these things are going to be ending right soon,” said York. “It’s been a hell of a ride. Thanks for the good times.”
