Downtown Amherst Faces Recent Closures as Regional Bookstore Crawl Expands

Several businesses have closed in downtown Amherst recently as the area faces economic headwinds, while a regional bookstore initiative is expanding to help independent shops thrive.

Aster + Pine Market, a European-inspired grocery shop that operated for two and a half years at 189 North Pleasant Street, is closing at the end of July. Owners Bill and Mallory Nurse, a Holyoke couple who opened the store in February 2024, cited lower foot traffic than Northampton offers, a difficult national and regional economy, and insufficient promotion of downtown Amherst by the University of Massachusetts as reasons for the closure.

Two other downtown restaurants have recently shut down. The Taste Thai Cuisine closed at 25 North Pleasant Street at the end of May after 12 years in business. Zhu's Kitchen Asian Bistro and Ramen, which operated for about a year at 25 South Pleasant Street, also closed.

Meanwhile, the Pioneer Valley Bookstore Crawl is underway through August 31 as a season-long effort to support independent booksellers across the region. The second annual event has expanded significantly, with 16 independent booksellers participating this year, more than double the number from last year. The crawl uses a customized passport system and spans across the Pioneer Valley, including Amherst Books and The Carle Museum Bookshop in Amherst, along with shops in Florence, South Hadley, Northampton, Easthampton, Greenfield, West Springfield, Springfield, and Turners Falls. Participants can win prizes while discovering local bookstores.