Robert W. Hugo opened The Spirit of ’76 Bookstore on February 15th, 1965, along with his two brothers. The bookstore was located at the corner of State and Washington, which later became the location of Hector’s Pup and is now a store called Mahri. Bob, a Wakefield native, was just 21 years old when he opened Spirit, and was busy finishing his senior year of college at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he majored in history and minored in economics.
During the store’s first year, Bob’s mother Geraldine helped behind the counter while Bob finished school and held second (and even third) jobs in order to supply the books for his shelves. By September of 1965, Bob bought out his brothers and became the sole proprietor. In 1976, Bob purchased the historic Rechabite Building at Pleasant and School Streets and moved his bookstore’s location to where it is today.
Bob now owns three stores in Massachusetts (The Spirit of ’76 in Marblehead, The Book Rack in Newburyport, and The Andover Bookstore in Andover) and co-owns two bookstores in New Hampshire (River Run in Portsmouth and Water Street in Exeter). Amongst his three Massachusetts stores, Bob employs 36 people. Some of The Spirit of ’76's landmarks over the years have been hosting Tasha Tudor and the late Julia Child for autographing parties. The store has survived both a fire and a flood.
Bob's favorite books are Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. He is a direct descendant of Victor Hugo.
The
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