West Roxbury's Seek Books Pushes on in Age of E-Books, Online Shopping

When asked what sets Seek Books apart from other independent book stores in the Boston area, owner Brad Kinne's answer came quick. 

"This place is a combination museum, petting zoo, retro [store]," Kinne said on a recent December day. 

The petting zoo comment is in reference to Kinne's all-white cat Asimov, who also doubles as the shop's mascot, keeping customers, as well as Kinne, company at all times. 

Seek Books, which opened its Centre Street location in 2009, is now approaching its fifth year in business as not only an independent book store, but one that specializes in used books of science fiction, horror and fantasy, among other genres and rare and collectible items. 

However business hasn't come easy for Kinne, who has not ignored the challenges of running a book store in an age of online shopping and e-books. 

"Opening a book store was a lifelong dream of mine," he said. "I didn't fathom that by the time I got around to doing it, it would be passé. I opened up a book store during a nationwide recession knowing full-well of the demise of book stores in general. I'm living my dream, and I had enough money to pay for it." 

Kinne also noted, though, that a store as niche as Seek Books hasn't been negatively affected by the digitized book.

"The Kindle and e-book type of stuff doesn't affect me in the sense that a lot of the books that I carry will never become ebook format," Kinne said. "Some of the standard science fiction, the standing classics, may come out in e-book format, but I specialize in pre-1980 science fiction, fantasy, horror. People who are looking for that kind of stuff and the older stuff, they're going to come here or buy it online."

Seek Books maintains a presence on Facebook and Twitter @SeekBooks, and also has a website, but Kinne said the website serves more as an advertising tool, as he isn't looking to compete with other book-selling giants like Amazon and eBay. 

With 2013 coming to a close, Kinne said he ideally would like to triple his business in the year ahead, and that if West Roxbury could do one thing to help area businesses, it would be to improve nearby parking, which he noted would be a difficult task along Centre Street.

Kinne frequently runs specials at the store, such as the regular deal on Saturday, which he dubs "Hatterday". Shoppers are encouraged to wear their best hats, sports teams and logo-hats excluded, and as a result they'll get 25 percent off their purchase of books and other items in the store. 

Seek Books compliments that of its counterpart further down the road on Centre Street, Pazzo Books, which had already been in business when Kinne opened his doors. 

"If there were a bunch of different book stores all specialized with genre-specific [books], it would be kind of a destination [area]," Kinne said. 

While he doesn't pen stories himself, Kinne himself is a huge fan of science fiction, and finds inspiration from a wide variety of authors. 

"[Ray] Bradbury is one of my favorites," he said. 

Seek Books

Location: 1747 Centre St. Boston
Phone: 617.327.SEEK (7335)
Hours:

• Monday & Tuesday: Closed
• Wednesday: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
• Thursday: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
• Friday: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
• Saturday: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
• Sunday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.