The Literary Round-Up Of Sag Harbor's Bookstores

Attention avid readers! A new bookstore is coming to Sag Harbor’s Main Street and it’s expected to be open in time for Memorial Day weekend.

Sag Harbor Books will be located at 7 Main Street, next to Grindstone Donuts in the space formerly occupied by the Addo clothing store. The store is owned by Greg Harris and Daniel Hirsch, proprietors of Southampton Books on Hampton Road in Southampton Village, and will be their second East End location.

“We always wanted to be in Sag Harbor,” said Mr. Hirsch, who notes that at 1,600 square feet, the Sag Harbor store is almost double the size of the Southampton space. “Southampton is a little too small.”

With the added space literary enthusiasts can expect to find the same sort of merchandise at Sag Harbor Books that is currently available in the Southampton store, but a lot more of it.

“We always wanted to expand the inventory. We’ll have new books, rare books, collectibles and board games, like Southampton, but add to each of those and expand on them,” said Mr. Hirsch. “We also plan to have a large magazine section—that’s new. The plan is to also have a reading area and nice chairs.”

Mr. Hirsch added that he and Mr. Harris also intend to offer events such as author readings and book clubs, and with its location right in the heart of Sag Harbor Village, will keep the store open late in summer to take advantage of those enjoying the Main Street restaurant and bar scene.

“It has a vibrant nightlife and deep literary roots,” he said of Sag Harbor. “We love being close to the water and truthfully, this was the only space available on Main Street … but it would’ve still been the property of our choice.”

While Sag Harbor Books will soon occupy the east side of Main Street, bookworms probably have noticed that gone from the west side of the street is Harbor Books, which was run by Taylor Rose Berry at 20 Main for five years.

But fear not! Ms. Berry isn’t gone, she’s merely relocating and shifting her focus somewhat. Her new venture, Berry & Co., will be at 51 Division Street in Sag Harbor in a 1,000-square-foot space above the UPS store and next to Jack’s Coffee. With cathedral ceilings, she notes the light-filled space will be an ideal place to relax and read. It also has a deck with water views.

Ms. Berry is combining her passion for botanicals and herbs with her love of books in the new location. Berry & Co. will feature a curated selection of books (including fiction, non-fiction and literary collections) as well as botanicals and tea. She’ll also offer specialty coffee, healing herbs, CBD oil and unique gifts and will use her knowledge of botany and herbs to create herbal potions and custom blends.

“I think people who were customers of the old space will recognize and feel a lot of familiarity in what we’re doing,” said Ms. Berry earlier this week. “Harbor Books was a reflection of me and everything I love. I think Berry & Co. will be that too. The reality is, it’s a bookstore and I love books so we’ll have great collections but we’re also expanding our lifestyle stuff, botanicals and herbal remedies, CBD and lots of gifts, just some more fun stuff.

With a space that she describes as feeling like a tree house, Ms. Berry is excited to offer writers workshops, botanical presentations and even a talk about wine and wine culture in the coming months.

“The authors events are fun too. Even at Harbor Books I focused on meet and greets and felt that it’s really personal. So I will do a lot of that,” she added. “I’m looking to focus on great events, good tea and positive energy. The space feels like magic to me.”

Also, while you’re shopping for books in Sag Harbor don’t forget to check out the perennial favorite, Canio’s Books and Canio’s Cultural Café, just down the road at 290 Main Street. Besides the regular rundown of author events for which the shop is famous, proprietors Kathryn Szoka and Maryann Calendrille organize the annual “Moby-Dick” Marathon reading, which this year takes place from June 7 to June 9 at cultural institutions and landmarks all over Sag Harbor. Among the reading spots will be the Old Whalers’ Church (44 Union Street) where actors Harris Yulin and Alec Baldwin will read from Herman Melville’s most famous novel on Friday, June 7, from 3 to 6:45 p.m.