The largest African-American Bookstore is closing Again

Emlyn DeGannes - Mejah Books at Tri State Mall

Whenever the words ‘Black Books’ and ‘Harlem’ were used in the same sentence, you could bet the ‘Hue-Man’ name would come up before the sentence ended.

In 2001, Hue-Man Bookstore opened in a Harlem mall and has been described as the largest black book store in the world. 

If you haven’t heard, Hue-Man announced their closing at the end of July. The shock is still reverberating around the black book buying world.

Recently on The Chester City Blog, we featured videos from our local black book store as owner Ms. Emlyn DeGannes voiced her plea to viewers to help save Mejah Books in the Tri-State Mall.

I never visited the Hue-Man bookstore in Harlem but I was curious if it was connected to the amazing Hue-Man bookstore I used to frequent in Denver between 1995-99. That store was also termed the largest black book store in the world as it filled each floor of a few connecting row homes with over 3000 square feet of total space. 

(The Hue-Man Experience bookstore was located on Park Avenue West, a well-traveled thoroughfare about a mile north of downtown, bordering the area known as Five Points, named for the five tramway lines that once intersected there. Five points is one of Denver's largest residential areas, encompassing over 1,000 acres.  With its close proximity to the downtown area, Five Points used to be a cultural center for African Americans, with more African American-owned businesses than any other place in the U.S. except for Harlem.)

After a little research earlier today, I learned that Clara Villarosa is the founder of both properties. The Denver store opened in 1984 and was sold and renamed in 2000.

She was 71 years old when the Harlem store opened and she must have sold it soon after its opening, as current owner, Marva Allen is speaking on behalf of the Harlem store now. 

As Ms. Allen states:

We all know that there is a season for everything under the heaven and the season of 'traditional book' selling has come to a close. It's the only sensible decision we could make...now is the time to re-imagine the future of books.

There is no way to reimagine the bookstore of the future in our current space. To try and do so would be a stop-gap and a waste of resources.

The bookstore of the future will have to embrace the reality of technology, where people have access to electronic books as well as print publications. The bookstore is a place of intellectual pursuit, and a place to meet and talk about ideas. 

She plans to travel to Europe and other places to find the model she is looking for and envisions the store having a physical space elsewhere in Harlem in a year or two.


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