How Melissa Started Beacon Hill Books

I heard about Melissa Fetter’s project long before I met her.

In the late 1970s and early 80s Beacon Hill in Boston had three bookstores, all have been closed for many years. In 2020, a whisper of a plan to bring a new bookstore was heard in the neighborhood. It seemed too good to be true: An entire nineteenth-century building on the main business street was to be turned into Beacon Hill Books and Cafe!

Look for tours of the store on WSG’s Instagram!

AND! Beacon Hill Books and Cafe Instagram!

Here we are in 2024. The store and cafe have been open for over two years and have blown the doors off all expectations.

In the best of times, commercial renovation in Boston is time-consuming, expensive and unpredictable. Add COVID and an extra year of construction and a myriad of other surprises, and you’ve got yourself a master class in frustration. But, as you will see she persevered, and we all benefit. Melissa’s story is remarkable, and her pivot is inspiring.

Why put a bookstore on Beacon Hill?

Melissa had lived in the Boston area in the early 1980s while her husband was in graduate school here. She spent thirty years living in other places, such as California and Texas. In 2020, her husband returned to Boston to teach, and Melissa found herself an empty nester in a basically new city. What to do?

Like all good entrepreneurs with some time on their hands, she looked around to see what the city was lacking. She narrowed her focus down to her new neighborhood, Beacon Hill and discovered there was no bookstore. But she also didn’t see a beautifully designed events venue, or a perfect little cafe that sells popovers.

As she tells me in our interview above, she had no lifelong dream to open a bookshop. She saw a need and went about filling it. She said that the whole concept was fully formed in her mind from the get-go. She wanted an entire building on Charles Street for her concept. She wanted it to be a destination for tourists and a venue for events. She wanted a cafe with inventive cuisine (she brought in renown chef Colleen Suhanosky). She already had the look and feel in mind for the store and cafe. She set about making it happen, even through COVID.

Lead by example

Beacon Hill Books and Cafe is a top-down enterprise. Melissa has approximately sixty people working for her. She has instructed her team to greet customers upon entry into the store. Eye contact and friendly acknowledgment are a must. The staff is always ready to answer questions and help find the perfect book.

The merchandising at BHB is irresistible. The quality is high and the items are useful! For instance, note pads and note cards are neatly wrapped in a cellophane sleeve, gift cards, tote bags are beyond well-designed, mugs, teas, and candles with their custom scent. Everything is created in the perfect greens and blues with a special font. The new umbrella lined in the Sister Parish design that covers the shop's walls is especially fetching. She also had a character-mascot and a book created for the children: Paige the squirrel. Available as plush animal! Adorable.

Age is not a hurdle

I hope you’ll watch our interview above because Melissa does a wonderful job of addressing exactly what Women’s Survival Guide is all about as it applies to her journey. She is proud of herself for creating Beacon Hill Books and Cafe and comfortable that she was the age she was when she took the risks she did. Like all the women I have interviewed, Melissa sees her age as an asset and not an anchor. Aside from gaining confidence, wisdom, and experience through life, she is not afraid of failure and not embarrassed by the id