“The smaller, preppier and more pretentious younger brother” of a popular Massachusetts bookstore is slated to open early next year in a prime storefront on York Street.
Grey Matter Books plans to debut a new store at the end of February at 264 York St., near the corner of Broadway and next door to the once-and-future home of J. Press clothiers. The bookseller, located in Hadley, Mass., announced the New Haven store on its website and briefly hung a sign in the window at the new location.
Grey Matter owner Sam Burton said he had long wanted to open a store in New Haven, and recently saw an opening in the market for an antiquarian and art bookseller in the city. “It was time to realize this idea I had all these years ago,” Burton said.
Burton plans a curated selection of some 15,000 used books in the 1,500-square-foot storefront, which features atmospheric herringbone wood flooring. The building, also home to Yale’s Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking, is adjacent to the empty lot cleared for construction of a new J. Press store.
At the new Grey Matter, high-end art and antiquarian books will be featured, along with a selection of used mystery and science-fiction paperbacks. Burton expects to employ several people to cover the long business hours required by Yale University Properties, owner of the building.
Burton said he has been heartened by the response from local literary mavens, who have contacted him to express their enthusiasm for a new bookstore.
“People have been very nice and encouraging,” Burton said.
