WORDSWORTH BOOKS FILES CHAPTER 11

WordsWorth Books, a Harvard Square institution for 29 years,yesterday filed for bankruptcy protection, as its owners seek a buyeror investor to help the independent bookseller compete with giantrivals like Amazon.com.

Hillel Stavis, who has owned WordsWorth with his wife, DonnaFriedman, since its founding, said the store at 30 Brattle St. hasbeen losing money for two years. They decided to file under Chapter11, Stavis said, in order to reorganize the business. WordsWorth willremain open during the bankruptcy proceedings.

In better times, Stavis said, WordsWorth had annual revenue ofmore than $10 million and 110 employees. Today, revenue is half that,and the store employs about 20 people, he said. It has $1.5 millionin debt and $1 million in inventory and assets, according todocuments filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Boston. The store's largestcreditors include Koen Book Distributors Inc., of Moorestown, N.J.,and Random House Inc., of New York.

Stavis blamed the decline on the rise of Internet booksellerAmazon.com and on other giant chains. "It's too much Amazon, too muchBarnes & Noble, and too little Harvard Square," he said. "It'sgenerally symptomatic of what's happened to the independentbookselling business."

The couple also owns the Curious George toy and book store inHarvard Square, which Stavis said is profitable. He wants to growthat business, rather than having its profits help shore upWordsWorth, he said.

According to the bankruptcy filing, made under the corporate namefor both stores, Bandicoot Corp., Stavis and his wife have poured$500,000 of their personal savings into WordsWorth in recent years.He has proposed lending another $250,000 to the business, but only ifa judge grants him a lien on the store's assets, to protect hismoney. The filing says the store urgently needs funds in order tostock its shelves for the holiday season: "Unless the debtor is ableto purchase inventory in the very near future, the debtor will likelyfail."

Several stores have closed in Harvard Square recently, includingclothing chain Abercrombie & Fitch, HMV music, and family-ownedBrine's Sporting Goods, which moved to Belmont. Robin Lapidus,executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, saidthat business is generally good in the eclectic Cambridgeneighborhood, but that certain businesses have faced difficulty dueto competition in their industries.

"The one thing you can say about Harvard Square is that it'sconstantly changing, just like the rest of the world," Lapidus said.

WordsWorth is well known locally for its reading series, which hasattracted such authors as Hillary Rodham Clinton and Salman Rushdie.Stavis said the business could still thrive, as one of a fewindependent bookstores in the area. Local competitors include HarvardBook Store and the Harvard Coop. He suggested his store needs amakeover, and perhaps the addition of a restaurant or cafe.

"We still believe in locally owned, independent bookstores inplaces like Cambridge," Stavis said.

Beth Healy can be reached at bhealy@globe.com.